


Kangaroo Debt

by Stormking



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Drama, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Predators Rule AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-02-23 12:20:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13189974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormking/pseuds/Stormking
Summary: Unofficial continuation of Kangaroo Court.It’s the morning after; it could have been peaceful, but Judy can’t stand to leave a debt unpaid.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Kangaroo Court](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6358747) by [Edgelord (lostlikeme)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostlikeme/pseuds/Edgelord). 



> A completely unofficial sequel to Kangaroo Court (link above, make sure you remember everything before reading on).  
>   
> There's never been a smut fic that made me wonder "what's next" before, like this one did. And I think I'm not the only one who wanted to see more of this particular AU.  
>   
> Unbeta'd by anyone but myself right now. All comments and criticisms welcome.

Adrenalin coursing through her veins, Judy startles awake. Her ears swivel, straining to catch whatever noise has roused her from sleep. In vain, just like all the other times this night. There are no dangers. She has escaped the cage that she was stuck in for months – at least physically.

A few deep breaths to calm herself down, then she let’s her head sink down again. Carefully, so as not to wake the sleeping fox besides her. Morning is approaching fast but she tries to close her eyes anyway. Yet sleep won’t take her again.

Patience has never been Judy’s strongest virtue. She likes saying that she can trust in her instincts but in truth they can also do a number on her sometimes. She knows she should be more patient with herself. After all, she has just spent several months in constant anticipation that every day might be her last. But now- well, her hind-brain can really just shut it for once and let her sleep! She’s safe now, isn’t she?

Maybe part of her mind hasn’t understood yet that the fox beside her is no enemy. He might certainly put on a sly mask and stand-offish behavior. But fast forward through one city-wide chase, a little roll on the futon, and some reciprocal grooming and she’s sure she has him pegged.

If money was his motivator, Judy wouldn’t feel bad to just slip away at night. The way things are now, however, she’s got a debt to pay. Somehow.

He saved her life. Some more traditional rabbits would pledge their own life to their savior’s in such a situation, but Judy isn’t really interested in replacing one set of shackles with another. Even if it is with this dumb (and sweet) fox. No, she has to find out what he really needs.

Looking around the room from where they’re lying on the futon, it’s not hard to tell that Nick isn’t well off. If he told her the truth yesterday, then most of his money probably goes into fueling his night howler habit. Getting him out of that could be a start. Another option would be her family. While she isn’t carrying any money on her right now, her parents back at the corner of the Tri-Burrows would surely be grateful enough to pitch in for the rescuer of their daughter. Otherwise, however, Judy is fresh out of ideas.

She can see no phone either. Calling her parents to let them know that despite all odds they will get their daughter back soon isn’t possible either. Maybe she can find a pay-phone outside. On the other hand, she could just make it a surprise. Travel to the Burrows would be dangerous for a lone rabbit, but she can take care of herself. The thought of her father driving the old truck up into the city and into this rundown neighborhood of foxes – that seems like a terrible idea any way she looks at it.

Her attention is brought back to the here and now by a low rumble behind her. The sound that emanates from Nick’s chest rises in pitch and suddenly comes out as little yip. His legs jerk a bit. She has to hold both hands over her muzzle to not make a sound from how adorable that looks. A second later he opens his eyes. “What?” He is drowsy from sleep and her staring doesn’t help. She bursts out laughing. “Nothing. Sleep well?”

He turns to face the ceiling and drags an arm over his face. “No. Thanks for reminding me, Carrots.”

“You’re still on withdrawal.” He makes an affirmative sound. “It will pass. It just takes a week.” Maybe that isn’t the most encouraging information right now. He groans. “I’m not planning on trying to hold out that long. But how do you even know that?”

It’s disappointing that he won’t even try to get through it, but maybe she can convince him later. He might just need another ‘distraction’. “One of my aunts had the habit. Told us all about getting over it to scare us away from the stuff. But it can be done, Nick, I’m sure you can do it.”

He gives a non-committal grunt. “So the stuff even works on rabbits. Who knew?”

She shimmies up to him and drags an arm over his chest. “A lot of things work on us rabbits, you know?”

“Judy, are you trying to get me killed?” he’s trying to sound agonized but she spots his grin. “I’ll starve before noon if we keep going at it like that.”

Hunger. It has been her steady companion for the last few months. She isn’t going to ask for breakfast. No need for her to add to the mountain of debt she has accumulated. Sleeping under his roof, that’s a neccessity for the moment. Her stomach, however, grumbles at the mere thought and Nick snickers some more. “See? Food first, Fluff.”

“I guess, if you have something to spare for me…” She’ll make it up to him somehow, she will.

They both sit down for breakfast at the one table in the apartment. Both still naked. Judy because there are no fitting clothes for her, and Nick – out of solidarity? She isn’t complaining in any case. They don’t talk much at first, instead focusing on the assortment of fruits and berries he brought out. Not exactly fresh but as hungry as she is, it tastes like a slice of heaven.

“So, any plans for today?” They haven’t talked about what’s next yet but she thinks he’ll be happier the sooner she’s out of his hair.

“I’ll be out on some errants for the day. You can stay and rest your foot. But I’ll find you some clothes, so you’re not cooped up inside.”

“Oh, right. Thanks! I’ll…” darn it. “I’ll pay for those.” Somehow. He makes a dismissive gesture as he polishes off the last blueberries. “It’s alright.” But it isn’t. If anything it seems horribly wrong to have his selfless act go unrewarded. “No, you dumb fox, I’ll find a way to pay you back!”

“Unless you can pull some Night howlers from your non-existent sleeves, I think you’ll just have to accept that there’s nothing you can do for me.”

“Well, I can help you kick the habit. Make it fun for both of us.”

“Ugh, no, Hopps. Just, no.”

“It’s hard, but you can do it!” She knows he can, if only he wouldn’t be so down on himself.

He looks away. “That habit is there for a reason, okay? I don’t expect you to understand, and I appreciate the offer, but… it’s not going to work. I’ll just be back at it within a month.”

A cold stone settles in her stomach. She’s heard that line of reasoning before. “You- did you… lose someone?” He turns away; it’s answer enough.

“I’m sorry, Nick.”

“It’s old history, and I’m in no mood to reminisce.” His voice is distant and he’s looking at something only he can see. No way she’s getting through to him now. She settles down again, defeated. Her paw, half outstretched and unconsciously reaching for his, sacks down in her lap again.

A few silent moments pass. Just as he’s about to get up, a wild idea bubbles up in her, making her jump on the bar stool. Even she has to admit it’s a bit crazy but it could solve a lot of things. “Then- then just come to the countryside with me. Leave it behind. The city, the history. You’ll get a warm welcome from my family when they see I’m alive!”

He’s stunned for a moment, before he looks down at her with mock concern. “Did you eat some bad berries, Fluff? I think you’ve just gone completely off the rails now.”

She stands up on the stool to be at eye height with him. “I know it sounds crazy, but look, there’s a ton of potential! There are actual night howler fields out there. I’m not making it up this time!”

His mask softens for a moment. “I’m not saying you are, but it’s a long way out there and back again. And you can imagine what’d happen if a fox and a rabbit are seen traveling together.” She wants to say how they’ll manage somehow, but he’s right. With her hesitating, he continues. “It’s probably easier for me to just pick up a bundle like I was aiming to yesterday, before I became sidetracked by a cute, little bunny.”

“Don’t- no, look, I’ll make the trek there by foot anyway. I know how to forage for food and sleep in the woods. Won’t be the first time for me. And as for going back, my family will gladly chip in for some transport and then some!”

“Right. If they don’t bolt on sight, you mean.”

“There are foxes in the Tri-Burrow region, Nick, you’re not that much of a novelty. C’mon, think of it as a vacation! Maybe you’ll even like it there.”

He’s rolling his eyes already. “A vacation. On your couch, you mean? Do you often pick up foxes from the city to bring home? Is that a thing with you?”

“What? No! I’ve never even been to the city! Why can’t I just want to repay you properly for what you risked for me?”

“This again!” He throws up his hands in feigned outrage. “Look, I’ve decided, you don’t owe me anything! There. You’re now free from all debt.” He pushes her back into a sitting position.

Judy is too stunned to move. “But…” He can’t do that! Why would anyone do that?

A knock at the door causes Nick to flinch and look up in horror. “Shit. Let’s hope it’s not the landlord. He usually doesn’t-”

“Hey, Wilde, you up?”

“Aw no,” Nick whispers, suddenly tense. “That’s Finnick.” He crouches down to be on eye level and speaks hurriedly. “Look, Carrots, Fin’s not a bad guy, but he’s not too fond of prey. Just- I’ll get rid of him. Don’t make eye contact!” He walks past her to the door before she can formulate a single question.

Playing submissive is not something that ever comes easy to her. At least not as easy as to other rabbits, she thinks, even though she had to do it plenty of times to turn the table on some arrogant pred. But she figures that not making Nick’s life harder right now would be a start at least. She’s not about to give up on paying him back yet.

Nick tears the door open. “Finnick, buddy!” She sees a small sand fox jumping back a meter as he gets a face full of the naked fox in front of him. “Fuckin’ hell, man, what did I ever do to you – wait, don’t answer that.”

“Good to see you, too. But listen, you’re a bit early today, so-”

Then Finnick spots her. “Hoo! Is that a-” Nick pulls him into the apartment with one arm and slams the door behind him with the other. “You want the whole floor to hear you?” Finnick snickers spitefully. “I can’t believe you’ve sunken so low, Wilde. And bringing it home even! Where’d you get the money?” He walks over to her.

Judy is keeping her features neutral and her eyes low. Very low, since the sand fox is shorter than even her. It feels wrong, to just sit here and not take the initiative back. Where Nick’s apartment has been a safe space since she arrived, suddenly she’s ogled like a piece of meat by two foxes. Again, nothing completely new to her, but practically every voice in her head is screaming at her to do something.

“I haven’t kept any riches from you, big man, she’s just made a little mistake. Run into the wrong sort of people. Needed help. And now she’s paying it off.” Judy’s careful mask nearly cracks at this reversal. Nick should be on her side, she knows this, and yet – if he’s playing the part, then it was so convincing he could even fool her. Now she isn’t so sure if she had him pegged right anymore. It’s hard to think straight, while she’s trying to ignore her sense of danger.

Finnick must have spotted something in her face and laughs. “Oh, look’it that! It doesn’t like to be reminded, does it?”

“Of course not,” Nick slyly supplies. “But she is doing well at paying it off, I will tell you that much.” Judy is nearly trembling from wanting to punch both of them out.

Finnick's walking around and inspecting her from all sides, his features a mixture of curiosity and disgust. “Debt, right, you always had a way with words. I get a round with it, too?” he asks with a leering grin. Nick just laughs. “Go find your own rabbit, if you like them that much.” The smaller fox snorts derisively. “Yeah, as if you usually do. Sometimes I really wonder about you, Wilde.” Then he snaps around. “And hey, where’s my… y’know.”

“Oh, your weekly ration of bull serum?” Nick asks slyly, as if he didn’t already know.

Fin gives her a glance, looking unsure if she could potentially judge him. “Yeah, what else, asshole? You better not have spent my money on flowers again!”

“No such thing, buddy.” Nick produces a jar from a nearby drawer and hands it to the sand fox. “As for our usual ventures: I have some errants to run first, but I’ll find you around nightfall.”

“Right, right,” Finnick snatches the jar and ambles towards the exit. “Errants my tail.” And he’s out the door.

Nick’s shoulders visible sag once he’s gone. “That went well, I think.”

“Right. So to him you admit that I’m in debt now.” Seething, she’s trying to hide it, trying not to give him the satisfaction. He isn’t paying enough attention to notice anyway. “You said it first, Fluff.” He’s going around the room to collect his clothes. She’s waiting for him to put the tie on before she yanks him down to eye level with it.

“I know what I said, Nick, and I’m a doe of my word. I will pay this off somehow. But if you believe I’ll swap one cage for another, you are sorely mistaken!”

With calm, measured movements he pries her paw off his tie and straightens up. “Really, Hopps?” His voice is strained. “Didn’t I already tell you, you don’t owe me a thing?”

“I know you did. And I do want to believe it. I just have a little trouble grasping that any mammal would just throw away such a chance. Especially if it was fairly earned.”

He turns away to put on pants, leaves her standing there with hands on her hips. “Maybe that’s what it looks like to you.” It sounds like he’s talking to himself more than to her but she answers anyway. “Yes, it does! And don’t try to lie to me and claim it was all for the promise of night howlers!”

“You sure that wasn’t my main reason? I didn’t have to follow you all the way to the city borders if I didn’t want them.”

A sigh of exasperation escapes her, and with it she feels her anger draining out. She can’t stay mad at a mammal who’s even more down on himself than she can ever be. “You can’t fool me, Nick. You’re not a greedy fox. I’ve seen how you hesitate.” She pushes the back of her paw against his own, causing him to freeze in the movement, for just a moment, before he catches himself again. It’s enough of a demonstration. “How you’re sharing your few meager berries with me when they weren’t even enough for you and I didn’t even ask.” When he tries to pull away she’s holding on to his wrist. Loosely, so he can get away if he really wants to. He doesn’t, but he still isn’t facing her again. “You’re good at wrapping others around your finger, Hopps. Takes one to know one.”

“Don’t- why would you sell yourself so short, Nick.”

“You don’t know me, Carrots.” She can tell he tried to make it sound light, but it comes out a mere whisper.

“Not for lack of trying,” she responds earnestly.

“Do we really have to do this?” he looks at her. She says nothing and just waits patiently.

He caves and sits down on the futon in front of her. “Fine.

“You probably realize that yesterday wasn’t the first time I was visiting that market. There are even a couple others like it. The ones that still sell prey. Even the police look away, as long as they are only marketed as pets. It’s crazy, isn’t it?”

Humming an affirmative, she waits for him to continue. They both know how illegal it is in theory, but practice is something else entirely. While there is no accuser, there is no case. And the victims are in no position to make any claims.

“And yesterday… well, we’ve both seen how easy it is to open a cage. Sure, there was a bit of running involved, but only because I didn’t have a plan. It could have gone even smoother.”

It sounds like he is planning to do this more often now, but she stops herself from interjecting questions.

“I’ve come by these cages so often, Fluff. I’ve seen rabbits, squirrels, pangolin, sheep, and more.” He falls silent again.

“And?” she carefully prods.

“I’ve always told myself these reasons. I couldn’t really change anything. Or that somebody would recognize me and a mob with pitchforks would find me here. But now… thanks to you… I guess I don’t really have these excuses anymore.”

It takes a second before it clicks what he’s so roundabout in telling her. “Aw, Nick! You’re not the only one with the ability to pick locks. You can’t hold that against yourself. Anyone could have done something before, but you did something yesterday, and that’s what matters now.” She turns his muzzle to make him look at her. His eyes are pained and broken and some deep-seated instinct in her just wants to pick up the pieces and mend them back together. It’s not a feeling she can recall experiencing before.

“Maybe. Maybe not. But even then, it’s why I feel like I don’t exactly deserve a reward. I finally got off my lazy ass, finally doing what I thought was right for years! And you still had to promise me a reward first. No, Carrots, I don’t feel right getting a thing for this. I, uh, I already get to see you live, right? That’ll do.”

The compliment, so off-handed and unexpected has her heart sitting in her throat. Words feel already so inadequate so she steps forward – slowly, so the intend is hopefully clear to him – and nudges herself under his chin to hug him for all she’s got. After a moment or two his paws come up behind her to return the embrace. She can feel his hitching breath as he struggles to retain his composure. His nuzzle dips to dig into her neck, his breath sending shivers down her spine. “H-hey!” she giggles weakly. “No fair.”

He detaches himself to catch her eyes, confused, but smiling weakly again. His cluelessness makes it all the more endearing to her. “Never mind.” She pulls his snout down into a long kiss, intending to put his mind at ease.

Things are just escalating beautifully from there. They end up lying down again, hands all over each other, before he breaks away. “Y’know, Fluff… I’m still wondering what you get out of all of this.” His hand is trailing down her back to pet her tail. “Or is this just a rabbit thing.”

She can only laugh softly, still slightly out of breath. A lot of her friends and family would say that, yes, it is a rabbit thing. But Judy has never been the most typical of rabbits anyway. “I wouldn’t say so, no. And you already declined to see it as a repayment. So no, this is just for me.”

“How do you mean?”

“I’ve been in that damned cage for months, Nick. I’m really glad to be out of it now. Really happy to feel again. Feel alive, you know?” She’s a bit unsure if he’s getting it. She isn’t exactly used to express her feelings like this. Seeing him nod, she rewards him with a: “and you happen to be really good at it, Foxy.”

“Nicest thing anybody has ever told me.” They share a little laugh.

“If you wouldn’t rather go out and get yourself some flowers right now,” she can’t help but tease.

“What’s with all these hard decisions so early in the morning,” he sighs. “But I don’t think I can risk letting you out of my sight now, Fluff. You might get captured again, while lying there all lame and helpless.”

Unfortunately she can’t roll her eyes any harder. “Such concern for a doe’s well-being. Or is it-” She reaches down into his pants to grab his hard foxhood. “-that you’re starting to acquire a taste for bunny.”

“Well,” he drawls and grabs her hips with both paws, “as a fox, I’d say the taste for bunny is already in my genes.”

“Less talking, more eating.”

He puts his tongue to work on her nipples and she can tell he’s eager to show what he’s learned yesterday. She leaves the initiative to him for a bit, raking her claws over his head in turn since this is all she can reach right now.

As his snout is trailing lower and lower, she stops him. He looks up, prompting. “Lemme turn around.” She positions herself on his chest, head down, in reach to open his pants and give some attention back.

H’s become a lot more responsive since yesterday, she can’t help but notice. Maybe it’s just the lack of good sleep and withdrawal that has put cracks in his mask, but she hopes it’s maybe also a bit because he wants to let her see more. In any case she immensely enjoys his little shivers and movements as she’s massaging and licking at him.

His own tongue teasing, licking and delving inside her has her knees buckling and her breath hitching. But after yesterday she’s even more eager to get to the main course instead of drawing this out.

“Wait,” she instructes softly and turned to face him again. With Nick starting to trust her more, this time she feels she doesn’t need to let him keep the initiative so much. “Go on, against the wall with you, Foxy.” She pushes him to scoot back until he’s sitting comfortably, half-lidded eyes looking up at her in anticipation.

It’s her turn to tease and she intends to make the most of it, lining herself up, rubbing his tip back and forth across her slit. His hands on her hips, adding weight, make it clear he’s hankering for it.

“Uhn, this is evil, Fluff,” he breathes. She tips his muzzle up and closes it with her own. His hips are straining to reach up. She let’s him push in a bit and it’s hard to tell who is moaning louder, before she’s pulling back a bit again. He’s almost whimpering in her mouth, giving her the most pleading look she has ever seen on him.

She starts to lower herself again, rolling her hips slightly to make the most of each finger width.

With a bang the door crashes open. She sees the horror in Nick’s face before she can turn around.

“Wilde! Where’s the soddin’ rent-eeeeeaaa--” Standing in the apartment door is a screaming otter, his face contorted in a mask of disgust and backing away slowly. Before one of them can move, he’s turned and run away.

“Fluff, I think I changed my mind. A few days out of the city don’t sound so bad right now.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After writing most of this in one day, it took a whole lot longer than planned to edit.  
> To the point where work has started again and I have to fall back on hoping it's now Good Enough (tm) to release.  
> Hope you enjoy.  
>   
>   
> 

Their way out of the city is hurried. Nick’s a planner, and being hasty is something he hates with a passion. Just as he hates sore feet, nature, and these Karma-damned night howlers. Gods above, what wouldn’t he do for a bundle of flowers right now. He’d do murder for a single bud, that’s what.

After being caught by the landlord in the most compromising way possible, Nick hastily packed a few essentials into a bag, threw one of his pawaiian shirts over Judy and off they were.

Public transport was out of the question. Not because of money, but they would just attract too much questioning looks. And the chance of Judy getting picked up for public indecency was not one he was okay to take.

So on foot they went. It made for a very roundabout route, sending them through the Meadowlands north, then the Marshlands west, from where they could – finally – head south.

At the edge of the Meadowlands he stole some white t-shirt from a drying rack that was about four times her size. She looked a bit weird in it, wrapped around her like an ancient toga, but at least not like she’d taken a few wrong turns during a walk of shame.

Now only the highest towers of Zootopia remain in sight as they’re moving south, cross country to put as much distance between themselves and civilization as they can. This is her idea, of course. Nick has no idea what he’s doing anymore.

Why is he even here, instead of finding another hiding place in the city? Maybe his own personal nightmare scenario of lynch mobs with flaming torches finding and chasing him through the streets has something to do with it. And if the landlord is talking, it doesn’t even seem so implausible anymore. So here he is, getting led around by this rabbit; again. Because that turned out so well last time.

To lessen the weight on her sprained ankle, she is walking on all fours. She made an effort to convince him to try it as well, but he made up an excuse of it not being practical with the bag around his shoulder. Her cute ass in front of him is a nice distraction, but it’s not enough to deflect his mind from the constant craving of flowers. And the hot-flashes he gets every five minutes. And the constant headache. It’s bad enough that he considers breaking his rule about not getting into other mammals’ business.

“Carrots.” At the sound of his voice she looks back over her shoulder questioningly. “Tell me, how did you even get captured in the first place?” She slows down to fall in step besides him, making it easier to talk.

“I’m from a big farm.”

“What a surprise.”

“Shush. I don’t like it much either. Anyway, when we work, we have a designated watcher against such slavers, usually the oldest. On that day it was me. But I got distracted. Some of my siblings having a spat over… I don’t even remember.”

“It’s been so long?”

“About quarter of a year now, I think.”

“Sheesh. How’d you survive that?”

“That’s a totally different story. But anyway. I got distracted and by the time I paid attention again, they were close. Four wolves who made it through the nearby forest and into the corn field. I still could have run, but not everyone would have made it at that point. The youngest ones can’t sprint fast enough yet and one of them had a sprained ankle.

“Normally, I’d have given the alarm loudly, but that was no use now. Instead I let the others pass the message around silently, while I ran straight at the wolves, socked the first one in the jaw and sprinted towards the forest. As you can imagine, four on one, they caught me pretty quick.”

“Sheesh, that was dumb, even for you.”

“Eh, when I came to, they had none of my siblings, so I like to think I did something right.” Her tone is testy and underlined by her hopping a few steps ahead again.

“Yeah, probably,” he admits. His mind is already going back to the damn flowers. He’s not even sure why he’s talking down to her like that. Can’t summon the energy to care either. Maybe he can make it up to her somehow, trying to understand what it’s like out there in the sticks. It’s going to become relevant to him soon enough.

“Does this kind of thing happen often enough in your town that you need watchers?”

“Sure. But my family rarely actually lose somebody. Maybe once a year.”

“Oh.” That put things into perspective. It only makes him wonder even more. “I’m surprised you can stand preds at all.”

She stops, looks back and finally stands up again to walk like a civilized mammal. There’s a hard undertone in her voice when she answers. “About half the time, you can find prey among the hunting parties. Makes you realize that any species can sink so low, doesn’t it?”

“It’s certainly surprising to me,” he admits. “And I’ve had a lot of prey looking down on me as well.”

“See? Won’t be so much of an adjustment after all.”

She throws a playful punch at his arm and goes back to walking on all fours. Nick, not for the first time, is left to wonder what he’s gotten himself into.

  


A few light conversations like that are his only diversion during the first, miserable day. But if he once thought that there could be no greater pain than walking for eight hours straight, he’s learning better the next day. He knows he’s whining a lot at that point but he just can’t bring himself to care. His body and mind seem to be conspiring against him, making him feel like a stranger inside his own fur. It would drive any mammal to insanity and after a while it starts to affect Judy as well.

He can’t blame her when she starts snapping back.

“See that farm over there? There’s a small vegetable garden out back and nobody around. We can just-”

“Nick, are you mad? Farms this small can barely support themselves. It’s been such a bad year, too, we can’t steal food from them.”

His stomach grumbles in protest. She has admitted that it has been harder to forage food for both of them than she expected. A fox wasn’t much larger than a rabbit, but it turns out he could devour a whole lot berries in a day. And a fox who is used to having a bug burger stand at every corner isn’t used to walking as much as five meters on an empty stomach. “I think they’ll feel better to not have two dead bodies lying next to their property,” he grumbles.

“Oh, quit being so melodramatic.”

“Must be nice to subsist only on water and grass,” he snarls back. “Don’t worry, I won’t take something for you then.” He ducks into the field before she can formulate a retort. It feels natural to use it as cover to sneak closer. His ancestors would surely be proud.

He reaches the other end, barely thirty paces to his goal – only to find the backyard now houses three deer.

When he returns empty-handed, the silence between them is icy.

He lets her cool off, no problem. He can go a few hours without conversation. (It’s a lot harder than he expects.) But eventually he has to address the elephant in the room.

“C’mon, Hopps, we’ve spent the whole damn day walking, let’s sit by this nice river here and cool our feet. Isn’t that something you country folks do? I certainly see the appeal now.”

“It’s still middle of the afternoon, Nick,” she retorts with an exasperated sigh. “We would be wasting like five hours of daylight. Light we could use to find food, I should remind you.”

He’s already sitting down, because frankly, his feet feel like they’re about to fall off if he doesn’t. “Why not take turns? You scavenge first, while I rest, then we swap.”

“ Not a chance. There’s a lot more for you to learn before you can go alone.”

“Aw, no oo , what’s the point? It’s not like I’ll need this once we return to civilization.”

“Because I won’t feed you, if you don’t at least try to help,” she snarls and turns away. “Maybe you’ll learn something better than stealing from others like a parasite.”

Some part of him registers the insult but he is already exhausted beyond anger. His pride tells him to stay put. He manages to wait until she’s around the next bend. Then the realization sets in that he’s in the wilderness with no survival skills what-so-ever and hurries after her.

It doesn’t improve the mood between them either way.

“This way,” she says after a while, leading him away from the path into yet another forest.

“Ugh, can’t we keep alongside the road? It leads to the Burrows, doesn’t it?”

“It’s harder to forage and easier to be seen there.”

“You can’t know what direction we’re going! I can’t even make out the sun. Do you have some super-bunny-sense that tells you if we’re even going south anymore?”

“Nick, just… shut up.”

The dinner they find is still meagre but he manages not to comment on it. Which means they’re back to tense silence. Perfect for such a relaxing evening.

  


~~~~ With tensions so high, Nick half expects them to literally be at each other’s throat within a day.  Or for her to just slip away at night, leaving him stranded in the wilderness. In the most unexpected way, though, they find a way to deal with all the pent up frustration about each other. Sex.

Really, really angry sex.

He makes an off-hand comment during their second evening about dry berries or something, and the next thing he knows is she has literally jumped him, her legs twisting around his throat, is forcing his snout upwards and Nick receives a really angry kiss with an impromptu lesson in erotic asphyxiation.

He’s quick to get with the program, digging his claws into her backside until she’s moaning angrily into his mouth. And then it’s on.

A furious orgy of scratching, biting, pulling fur and tails and fucking each other into exhaustion. He’s not sure where he can still find the energy. Maybe it’s just the anger over this whole situation, maybe it’s his pride at not being outdone by a rabbit – again.

No matter how tired he feels, once he gets her under him, he couldn’t stop if he tried. She tries her best to look in control, but he can tell always when he’s going it right. She’s not the best acting material, trying to to hide what he’s doing to her by scrounging up her face and closing her eyes.

What she lacks in control, she more than makes up for in sheer stamina and determination, riding him relentlessly until he’s begging for mercy. He also learns very quickly that she’s a lot fitter than she looks. He’s her natural predator, yet he really cannot pin that bunny down if she doesn’t allow it. He starts to suspect she has had self-defense training of some sort, seeing as how good she is at using his own force against him.

It’s great since he has little to worry about with how far they’re taking it. And holy shit are they taking it far. Pressing her against a tree with his whole body and ramming it into her so hard that leafs are falling around them while her own claws are digging into his flanks -far can only begin to describe it.

Her squeezing his knot with legs crossed, while he pulls her ears down, bending her, and by extension his cock, backwards until they’re both coming doesn’t do it justice either.

And as soon as they both realize they don’t have a natural advantage over the other, they each start to look for the other’s weak-spots.

Hers are, surprisingly enough, her legs. Pulling at them, scratching her calves and even massaging her toes with claws and teeth while he’s already knot-deep inside her- it’s a sure-fire way to send her screaming over the edge again. And again.

The second time he’s shushing her for it. She’s snarling back, which is at good as a laugh in their current state of mind, and shushing him back. And suddenly it’s become another way to try and one-up each other. Staying silent while there are no mammals around for kilometers is a whole new level of stupid, but he’ll be damned if he’s the first to admit defeat. They’re both losing at it anyway.

Not that one of them could keep score if they tried.

They learn to camp close enough to streams and lakes. It’s the only way to clean off all the mess they make. Then, shuddering and even more exhausted, they dry off with their one towel, before rolling up on it together and falling asleep.

There’s no need to talk, no desire for banter. Just a lot of snarling, growling, moaning and shushing, as they push each other to the limit and beyond. Nick has never slept so well before.

  


Sometimes, though, he wakes up again. Usually it’s because Judy is trashing around in his arms. The first time she’s woken up from it he asked her if it was a nightmare, but only received a “it’s nothing” in return before she curled up against his side again.

He has his theories, given what she’s been through, but he keeps them to himself. If she wants to forget about it and put it into the past he can certainly understand that and won’t undermine the effort. He’s not that pissed about the nightly interruptions anyway. One hour she will trash around and push everything away from her, curling up at the edge of the blanket, the next hour she’s holding on to his torso with claws, whimpering softly into his fur.

If anything, he has to remind himself – again and again – not to get attached now. One day he’ll sit down and disseminate how he got into the position of suddenly moving cross-country with a bunny he’s known for less than a few days, but not tonight. For now he’ll accept that while (surprisingly enough) she didn’t slip out of his apartment the first night, she won’t be around for long either. She has her weird sense of debt, but once that is satisfied, they will go their separate ways again. Because that’s how life is. This is just an adventure. Not his first one, maybe his most exciting one to date, but nothing more than that. It certainly won’t lead into any kind of relationship, much less a happy one. That only happens to other mammals, not to him. And he can’t even imagine an unhappy relationship where this bunny is involved in some way. But oh, there he goes, imagining things again.

He stomps down the feeling in his chest like an elephant stomping out a fire. The content sound she makes in her sleep when he nestles his muzzle into her neck is just an instinctual reaction to the added warmth, nothing that has to do with him personally. That’s how life is. He’ll enjoy it while he can, and then move on, like so often before. But he has a hunch it won’t be as easy as before.

That it won’t ever be so easy again.

  


On the forth day of their little hike Nick is confronted with a most unexpected turn of events. He’s already at an absolute low-point of irritability spawning from withdrawal with no end in sight. Or so he thinks until she calls out after half an hour of foraging for nuts and berries for dinner. He can tell instantly from her face that something is bothering her. She takes a deep breath. “I found some flowers.” Nick’s breath stops.

Every sense is suddenly directed at this bunny, in a way they rarely are, even in their nightly sex sessions. “Y-you mean…” He hesitates to even say it out loud, afraid of dispelling it as a dream. Afraid the flowers in question would be destroyed by something so direct as words. He waits with baited breath until she nods. “Show me!” he breathlessly demands.

After hesitating for a moment, she leads him to it. Why is she reluctant, he wonders. Is this another prank by her? A throw-back to show him some more blue hydrangeas? No, she wouldn’t be that cruel, would she?

Nick can smell them before they come in sight. Every bone in his body is trembling. It’s real, they’re here, there’s no mistaking them. Real night howlers. He kneels in front of the wild batch of flowers. Enough for two days, if he’s pacing himself.

Judy coughs. “So, I guess I’ll look for another spot to sleep tonight.”

His heart skips a beat. “Huh?”

“You can have the blanket, it’s warm enough anyway.”

It feels like he’s fighting his way out of a haze. Every sense of him is overwhelmed by the presence of the flowers in front of him. Why is she- “Why are you talking about sleeping arrangements?”

“Uh, Nick, no offense, but if you eat those, you won’t exactly be yourself, right?”

His thoughts finally catch up.

But it’s just for a night, right? There’s no problem, certainly not compared to finally, FINALLY finding some flowers to get this Karma-damned withdrawal under control and- Why is this such a hard decision?

“Nick? Are you… okay?”

His turmoil must be somewhat plain to see on his face. “I-” ...don’t know? Why was this so hard?! “You’ll be okay?”

A hurried head-bob, still intently looking him over.

That was it! His ticket to blue-town! She gave him the go-ahead. She’s even lead him here, while she could have kept it a secret. No, she knew it would happen and accepted that logical conclusion that they could sleep apart for one or two days, no big deal.

Except for the image of Judy shaking uncontrollably in her sleep, which rises unbidden into his thoughts.

“Are you sure?” he hears himself asking.

“Nick, it’s- it’s no big deal. Will you stay here? Then I’ll find you in the morning. The stuff should have worn off by then, right?”

Mechanically, he nods. “Sure.” The whole situation feels weird. After all they never talked about sleeping arrangements before. They just kind of happened.

“Good. You got the bottle and the blanket in there, I have the river over there. So, see you in the morning, Foxy?”

When he doesn’t answer, she turns around and walks back.

“Wait!” he calls after her. She looks back over her shoulder questioningly. He opens the water bottle and gulps down the contents quickly, then holds the whole bag towards her, still not rising from his kneeling position. “I won’t need this anyway.” With an eye-roll she comes back to snatch the bag from his paw. “Sweet dreams, Wilde, or whatever they give you.”

And he’s alone again. Only him and the blue petals in front of him, calling to him. He would swear he can even hear them, not just see and smell them. Anything else to do before he digs in? Dinner can be postponed until the morning. Then he’ll at least taste something again. And he’ll be in a good mood for once, with no withdrawal wrecking his body and putting his mind on the torture rack. Yes, then they can finally go back to relaxed conversation without everything devolving into an argument and snapping at each other. It’ll be great! And a few days from now, he’ll be done with this whole trip and return to some semblance of civilization and what is he even waiting for?

That this measly batch likely can’t even last until the trip was done might have something to do with it. They might find another one, but what are the chances there? Lousy.

This is really the worst possible moment for his logical side to speak up. He balls his paws into fists until his claws dig into his own flesh, pulling him back into the here and now where there are these damned flowers that he craves.

And what about after they arrive? Would he steal away every night to indulge the habit again instead of- what? Sharing her bed? As if that was likely. She probably had other bucks to keep her company. And didn’t she say they were heading towards her family’s farm? Yes, their little adventure in interspecies-sex would soon come to an end regardless of what he does here.

He reaches down to pluck a flower from the ground. Looks at it from all sides. This is what it’s always been about. After just one bite he can feel himself relax from the familiar taste.

  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the last chapter yet!

His paws were everywhere, lifting her up by the rump, pressing her against his chest. His smell was all around her. It still did things to her she couldn’t define and she drank it in greedily. She pushed her ass against his paws, wordlessly urging him to explore, to comb through the sensitive spots between her legs, closer and closer around her clit which was nearly hurting from anticipation.

She looked up and he had a blue Nighthowler in his mouth; bud, stem and all, circling his tongue around it. She was mesmerized by the sensual display. Then he chomped down on the whole thing and was inside her, filling her, locking them together.

Her nerves were crying out, her body in flame, her heart hammering, stopping, bursting, she could hardly hold herself together. She never wanted it to stop. And still he drove into her, deeper and deeper.

When she managed to open her eyes again she was on her back. They were still locked together. Her brain was all mush so she just basked in his warmth and smell. Just a little while longer.

“Look at that, Carrots, your parents are here.” He stood up from her, pulling her up by the paw. “Better introduce me.”

What? Oh, they were all here. All of her immediate family! But for some reason they just stared at her, looking confused.

“Who are you?” “What are you doing in this burrow?” “You can’t be here!” The crowd pushed in around them. “You should leave, please.” That came from her own mother.

Nick was quick to stand in front of her. “Now wait just a second here. Don’t you recognize your own daughter? She can’t have changed that much in six months!”

But they just turned on him instead. “What is this fox doing here?” “Hey, you, why do you smell like our daughter?” “He must have taken Judy!”

“I’m right here!” she screamed, but she only got blank looks in return. Like one would look at an insect that has landed on a chair. A momentary curiosity, nothing more.

Hands were grabbing at Nick, lifting him up onto the crowd of what was once her family. “Take him!” “Tell us what you did to our daughter!” “Why do you smell so much like her?” They carried him off.

“Guys! GUYS!” she tried to follow, but her legs wouldn’t move. She tried harder and just fell over. She was in a cage again. That cage. Unyielding iron bars were locking her in. While her family and Nick were vanishing into the distance.

  
  


Sweating and heart hammering, she finally wakes up. Darkness is still swallowing the forest. She turns around and presses her eyes shut again. These new nightmares don’t make sense either.

  
  


Next thing she knows it’s morning. She’s standing on her blanket after this loud noise has just torn her from sleep. Disoriented and weak-legged, she tries to watch all directions at once. What is this? Motor engines? There is nobody around. The sounds grow weaker, west of her, moving south-west.

Shaking her head over the weird disturbance Judy looks down and wonders if it’s worth to try and snag another hour of sleep or so. They’ll hardly make any progress today if she falls over before noon.

Except that- west! Nick!

Now she’s fully awake. She grabs the bag – no time for the blanket! – and bolts off on all fours. This could be just a coincidence, right? There could be all sorts of rabbits and other mammals driving through the woods in the morning. She just can’t think of one right now.

The small clearing is just how she left it yesterday – except for it’s lack of fox. “Nick?!” No response. There’s a dell on the moss where he’s been sleeping. Absently she registers that half the flowers are gone. A few meters away she spots tire tracks.

Questions are building up, threatening to overwhelm her. Judy starts running instead. There’s still a trail and she can’t afford to lose it.

A few minutes later and she reaches the edge of the forest. It has been easy to follow the tire tracks so far. From the size of them, she is following several quads. The motor sounds have vanished long since, but there in the distance she can see them cresting a hill. The dust plume they create is visible still, but for how long?

The fields stretching out in front of her lie fallow and have been so for years. Nobody lives here anymore. Judy drops into a quick jog. She might be following them for a few hours if they are headed into the Burrows itself. Logically, there’s no chance for her to catch up unless they stop. But she has to try.

Somebody has just taken Nick. Very likely against his will. She has no idea who. The wood they slept in lies beyond the town-limits of Bunny-Burrow. Even if a cop came out that far, why would he take the fox with him. Sleeping in the woods isn’t illegal.

Except if Nick was still pumped up on the drug, aggressive enough to attack anyone who woke him. Judy’s stomach clenches at the thought. If that is the case, she can be happy if he’s still alive. Some cops in the Burrows, who by law are all predators, do not take kindly to threats.

But no; she shakes off the debilitating thought. Why would any cop patrol be so far out on quads this early in the morning. Following prey slavers maybe? Like that’d ever happen. The cops they have in town are chronically short-staffed. There is no chance things have changed enough in the last few months for them to come out here in force.

Her eyes can hardly make out the dust plumes anymore, but she keeps her pace.

What else can it be? Some actual slavers stumbling upon him on their way to the Burrows? But why take a fox? Did he convince them he wanted to join them? Or was there a market for foxes?

Her ideas are getting sillier by the minute now. But they still don’t help her decide what to do in case she loses the tracks. A possibility that seems likelier by the minute. Go to the police first? Go home? Her parents would be ecstatic, but if there is any chance at all that she can help Nick first, she can’t get burrowed in the avalanche of her family who’ll try and make sure she’s all right.

She really needs a better plan than just going to the police, though. Her own missed-mammal case would be there, but would they even believe her? Nobody has ever come back from the city, once taken. And she has no way to identify herself either. If there’s nobody there who happens to know her in person, she might be taken for an impostor and detained herself!

What a mess.

And it’s all her fault, too. Why did she have to show him the stupid flowers in the first place? Stupid, stupid, stupid! All she wanted was to give him the freedom to choose.

Why did she have to try and make a difference…

  
###  
  
  


Half an hour later the tracks are intersecting a road, but there’s no sign of them leaving on the other side. It’s one of the few asphalt roads leading straight to the town center. There’s no way she can follow them now.

Still, she might notice if they left the street into another meadow so she starts jogging towards town.

For hours not a single car comes in sight. It’s not terribly unusual but it leads her to realize she doesn’t even know what day of the week it is. She’s been so far removed from normal civilization that it’s never mattered. Not even in her last week with Nick. Now she’s but a day away (at most) until she rejoins civilization and it might be a shock for everyone involved.

Her feet are starting to hurt. Reluctantly she takes a moment to sit down and give them a rub, the asphalt already taking its toll on her. And thinking of civilization, she also hasn’t bathed in a day, nor seen soap for a week. Whoever would first hug her, would smell a lot.

A real lot. Which included a certain fox and probably all they’ve done and oh gods how is she going to explain any of that.

For any of that to matter, though, she has to find him first. She takes up her jog towards town again, when finally she hears a car coming up from behind. For a moment she ponders hiding, since she is still outside the town and a lone bunny could go missing out here and nobody would know. But no, a car could save her so much time and right now that is more important than anything else.

It’s a blue sheriff’s cruiser that comes in sight a few heartbeats later. Surprise gives way to joy when she sees who is driving it. “Gideon!” she yells and waves.

The portly fox looks like he’s seeing a ghost when he stops the car next to her. When he’s clearly too stunned to get out, Judy takes the initiative and climbs into the passenger seat.

“J-Judy? Judy Hopps?”

“Long time no see, Gid!” she grins. She hasn’t spoken to him for roughly a year, partially since he’s been away to the police academy. And it looks like he’s made it, too!

“They said you were gone! Kidnapped! I saw the case file myself when I started and-”

“I know. It’s true. But I got free and today I’m back,” she interrupts him. “But listen, I’m really in a hurry and I need your help.”

“Well, uh, sure thing. But Judy, you look like hell! And what are you even wearing?”

“I’ll live. All of that has time until later, but seriously, there’s a more pressing problem. Will you help me?”

“Of course! That’s what I’m all about now!” he laughs, though still looking a tad unsure of himself. She remembers how they’ve needed to do a lot of convincing for him to try for the academy and leave his baker’s shop behind.

Judy quickly summarizes how she’s been able to come back and what she knows about Nick’s disappearance. Gideon is looking downright miffed by the time she finishes. He starts the car before saying something.

“Do you have any idea who could have kidnapped a fox in the woods?” she prompts.

“Oh, ye bet I do, Judy,” he growls. “Seems like now I have to catch you up on a few new things in town.” He takes the dashboard radio, and checks if its off before continuing. “But you didn’t hear any of this from me, all right? Don’t wanna lose my job already, not after all that hard work…” he trails off.

“I won’t tell anybody, I promise,” she quickly says.

“Right. Cause officially I can’t know this, or I’d have to take them in and I don’t think that’d actually do any good for the Burrows.”

“Who?”

“The militia. Dunno if they’ve got a name by now but it’s some rabbits that have been running around for some months now, trying to do what we few cops can’t. Patrol the outer borders, try and warn mammals if they see slavers, that kinda thing. I figure it’s good for folks here, and it’s kind of an open secret, even among us cops; but practically: they ain’t allowed to carry guns, y’see? Yet if I were to take those away, it’d be downright suicide for a bunch of rabbits to go and patrol our borders. No offense meant.”

“None taken.” She shakes her head, trying to process these new developments. ”And you think they could have kidnapped Nick?”

“I sure don’t have any better guesses. Mallory Flinch is organizing them. You remember her?” Judy nods. “She’s alright, but some of the others, they’re sometimes a bit too eager, y’know?

“Anyway, since we exchange tips from time to time, I know where they meet. It’s the old Claxun Burrow, not far from this road. So we’ll swing by there first; see if we can find your friend.”

“Okay, sure.” Using an old, abandoned Burrow makes sense to her. Plenty of those available these days. “This militia, they wouldn’t – uh – hurt innocent mammals, would they?” she asks, unable to stop fretting on the question.

Gideon shifts in his seat and she can feel his eyes on her. Unwilling to let him see what’s between her and Nick she stares straight ahead and waits. She’s often felt like Gid could see straight through her if he wanted.

“Nah, I don’t think so. As far as I know, they’re all bunnies. They wouldn’t have hurt your friend, unless attacked.”

“Good. They better.” The words came out a lot more aggressive than planned and she shrinks down in her seat.

“You, uh, you two close?” he carefully asks.

“Gid, he’s a fox,” she reflexively says.

“So I heard, Jude, but how you talk about him and, uh- what I kin smell on ye’, that’s a whole different story.”

“Oh, sweet cheese and crackers.” It comes out as a hoarse whisper. “I-”

“He really is your friend, Jude, right? He hasn’t like, bought you, or something? In the city?”

“What? No!” She groans. “Gideon, if you breathe a word of this to anybody, I’ll knot your ears together.”

To her surprise, he chuckles softly. “Alright. I won’t be breathing any words to anyone about your fox. You needn’t worry, though. I- uh, I can kinda relate, y’know?”

“WHAT?” Has all the Burrows gone mad while she’s been gone?

“What I’m saying is …you remember Sharla?”

“Sure. She was off to Zoo-U-West, right?” Judy is still more than a little confused how her old friend could play into this. She and Gideon have never been on the best of terms, even after he’s started being less of a bully.

“Well, she came back in winter. You would hardly recognize her, I guess. Except for her being the only black sheep, of course. Anyways, for some reason she looked me up, and, uh, one thing kinda led to another…” he trails off into silence.

“You? And her? Really?” She tries not to sound too incredulous, but Gideon doesn’t seem to take offense in it.

“Oh, yeh. Mind you, it ain’t any big relationship dealie, we just, uh, hook up now and then. And hang out.” His bashfulness alone is enough to drive home the point that he isn’t joking.

“Wow. That’s… unexpected.” Like a snow storm in July. “Good for you two, though.”

“We got to keep it quiet, of course. Still, I think some folks suspect and have been turning a bit of a blind eye maybe. Just thought you should know.”

It really is good to know. Yet it highlights she clearly hasn’t thought about this enough. “Thanks, Gid. Means a lot to me, actually.”

“No problem, Judy. I’m just as glad I can talk to someone about it. Sometimes feels like I’ve been going mad. First the cop gig, then this.” He chuckles.

It is going to take Judy a lot of time to process all of that. Not that it has any bearing on her right now. There is no relationship between her and Nick. Maybe there might have been one, but that seems like a distant, crazy possibility right now.

Like snow in July.

“Here we are,” Gideon says, pulling her out of her thoughts.

The car turns into an old driveway. It’s half overgrown and rot has made the remaining signs unreadable. Judy has seen her share of abandoned burrows. They’re always a favorite location for kits to explore.

There are a lot of tire tracks, though no quads are parked outside. Gideon motions her to follow and enters the burrow without knocking. She begrudgingly lets him lead. If he knows these rabbits, he might be able to secure their help in case Nick isn’t here. After all, if they’re trying to help residents with kidnapped mammals, they should help her, right?

The burrow is silent except for the wind, swishing in through broken windows. Gid leads her through the foyer and a living room, looking more focused than she’s ever seen him before. He stops to sniff at door handles and chairs but otherwise keeps going wordlessly. His tense stance is starting to affect her too. She is keeping her breath shallow and strains her hearing, swiveling her ears at every little sound the large burrow makes.

He opens another door to a small room. Inside is a single chair. And sprinkles of blood.

When he crouches down to sniff at it, she feels her stomach clench. The grim look he throws back at her is all the confirmation she needs. “He was here.”

“FUCK!” she yells. “These rotten, little bastards! If I get my hands on them…”

“Judy, there isn’t much blood here. A bloody nose at most.”

“Oh, I get that,” she seethes. “I might not hurt them too badly for this. But they better have the best reason of all time! Augh!” All the frustration and stress of the last day is forcing its way out of her. She kicks the chair.

“Whoa, hey-”

She punches the wall, denting the wooden paneling.

“Jude-”

She tries screaming again.

A moment or more later she finds herself on her knees, panting heavily and feeling slightly dizzy. “Ugh.”

“Better now?” Gid asks. “You’re starting to worry me, Judy.”

“I’m fine.” She nods, mechanically. It blurs the room for a second. Her stomach makes itself heard. “It’s been a weird day, is all.”

“Wait till you hear about mine,” says a familiar voice behind her.

She twists around and sees Nick casually leaning against the door frame at the other end of the living room. Two strong jumps and she’s on him, tackling him to the ground with her. “You! Giant! Ass!”

“Whoa, nice to see you too, Carrots.”

“I thought you were kidnapped!”

“And I was. Thankfully, these fellows don’t know much about knots and how limber foxes can be,” he smirks.

“And you just let us wander around and find your blood while you hide?!”

A small crack in his mask. “Hey, I didn’t know who you were at first. Could have been more of these hostile rabbits who tranq you first and ask questions later.”

Her second rush of anger is fading fast, leaving her thoroughly drained. She collapses on his chest.

“This, uh, isn’t what it looks like,” she hears Nick say; probably to Gid.

“It’s okay, Nick, he already knows,” she says without looking up.

“What?!”

“Long story. Hey, Gid, can you give us a minute?”

“Uh, sure, no problem. I’ll try and find you some clothes.” His steps trail off into other parts of the burrow.

For a moment Judy is content to just lie still, gathering her strength again. This outburst has been just as surprising to her as to the foxes.

Nick brings up an arm around her and puts the other behind his head. “Hey. You okay?”

“That’s what I should be asking you, Slick. I’ve been chasing your kidnappers since the moment they’ve driven off with you. If only I hadn’t overslept like that…”

He pokes her side, eliciting a stifled gasp from her. “Not your fault, Carrots. I might have looked a bit threatening at the time. Still, didn’t expect them to carry tranq guns. Who are these guys anyway?”

“Some kind of militia, is what Gid told me.”

“I have so many questions,” Nick deadpans.

She recaps her morning and what Gideon told her about these rabbits. “And then Gid led me straight here, to your blood.”

“Right, I cut myself by accident while getting free.”

“Ugh. Don’t make me worry like that again, Nick.”

“That would be a hard promise to keep, Fluff. But I’ll do my best.”

“Thanks.” Can the day just end here? She wants nothing more than to sleep for a whole week straight.

“I mean, if you go to these lengths to get me back, I guess I can’t be doing everything wrong.”

“Hmm? Why would you say that? It wasn’t your fault you got tranq’d today.” Has she dozed off for a moment? Where is this coming from?

“Except it was kinda my fault that you weren’t there, right?”

“Yeah, and I shouldn’t have shown you the flowers. So it’s at least equally on me.”

“No, just let me say sorry for once. I screwed this up. I was winging it and I suck at that. Snap decisions were always more Finnick’s strength. To tell you the truth, most of the time with you I don’t have half a proper plan of what I’m doing.”

“Nick, it’s fine. Really.” Normally Judy knows exactly how to deal with people who worry too much. She’s been surrounded by them since birth in her eyes. Now she has half a mind to shake Nick and half a mind to kiss him until he feels better. But she can’t really solve all problems like that, can she? “I’ve already forgiven you for that. We’re good.”

“Ah. Okay.” He’s taking a deep breath. Then another. “So that answers the question if there still is a ‘we’.”

Oh. The small laugh that bubbles up inside her surprises even her. Suddenly half of her sleepiness seems gone. He’s really put things into perspective for her there. She bends to look up at him. “We’re so bad at talking, aren’t we?”

His own chuckle shakes her from head to toes. “Again, I’ll defer to your experience there, Carrots. I, for one, have never been kidnapped out of my home and into the wild countryside by a lady who wants me to stick around afterwards.”

“Just don’t let her take you to a barn dance. A city slicker like you will never make it out alive,” she chuckles.

Once they’ve calmed down again, she lets out a sigh, remembering the topic at hand. It’s really more somber than they make it out to be. “I’d like there to be an ‘us’, Nick…”

“I hear a ‘but’ coming.”

“…but right now I don’t know how that would work. I mean: if you have to sneak out every night to indulge your habit. That’s a bit of a downer for me, to be honest.”

He sits up. Leans her back enough to look at her. “And you should never settle for that, I agree. I would like to tell you that I’ll just drop the habit for you. But to be honest, I’m not sure if that’s even possible at this point. And I don’t want to get your hopes up only to dash them later.”

And it’s not something she could ever demand of him. She’s feeling selfish already, just having pushed him into that direction so much. Maybe it is for his own good, but maybe she has no idea what she’s talking about. It’s not like she has any direct experience with the stuff. “I understand.”

“But I guess I’ll try?” he says, uncertainty thick in his voice. “It won’t be the first time, though. I’ve relapsed before. And yes, if I can dangle a carrot in front of me and think of that, it might be a bit easier, but…”

“But what?”

“We might be in agreement here, but what about everyone else? This is your home-town. How can I ever fit in here? Obviously, today hasn’t been how you imagined coming home. But tell me, how did you expect our arrival in Bunny-Burrow to go?”

She bites her lips as she’s trying to come up with an answer that doesn’t make her look like a total, clueless idiot. “I guess I didn’t think much further than going home to my family first and then take it from there. And there’s no reason we can’t still do that.” He slowly nods, looking thoughtful. She adjusts her legs under her and continues: “I know this got off to a horrible start. And you can bet these guys will wish they never laid a paw on you when I get to them; but you need to understand something about Bunny-Burrow: it is small enough for me to know every resident predator’s face. If we see someone we don’t know, we have to assume they might be here from the city and are up to no good. Until you get a family to vouch for you, it’s rough. And it’s kind of a shitty system to anyone who’s not a rabbit, but that’s the way things are around here.”

He shrugs. “You could have been a worse system, I guess. Like ritualistic blood-oaths. Sacrificing your first-born to the dark Carrot-King of the Beyond.”

“Oh, will you be serious for a minute!”

“Sorry,” he smiles and she’s already forgiven him.

They probably mirror each other’s tension. She wants to make this work so badly, but what can she do right now?

He sighs. “It really does sound better than the city. At least it’s something we can use, right? If you do want to vouch for this old junkie, that is.”

Now it’s her turn to poke him in the side for being so self-deprecating. “It’s not me you need to convince. I am not head of clan Hopps. But as I said, that part shouldn’t be a problem. My parents would love anyone who brings a member of the family back from slavery.”

“Good. Any other problems I should be aware of?”

“Ummm.” Her stomach growls again. “I can’t think of anything right now, sorry.”

“That’s alright. You’ve given me a bit of hope already. We’ll figure it out.”

“We’ll wing it. I’m good at that.” She gives him a quick peck on the lips and feels him relax.

Gideon’s return is announced by his heavy steps. “Sorry, only found some rabbit-sized clothes.”

Reluctantly, she gets up from Nick’s lap and takes the offered outfit. The couch is enough privacy for her to strip off the tattered shirt. Once white, it’s now become a mixture of green and brown, which all the river baths couldn’t save it from.

“So, Gideon, was it?” she hears Nick ask. “Are all cops out here as helpful as you? I could really get used to that.”

“Oh, yeah. My new colleagues sure are nice. There’s still two of them that aren’t from around here, tho’. We don’t get along with them so well.”

“Where are they from then?”

“The city, of course,” Judy throws in.

“That’s right. When we can’t fill the quota for cops, because there’s not enough predators who want to take the jobs, the city sends some out.”

“Oh, so the law that only preds can take those jobs, that’s a thing here?”

“Yep,” Gideon says. “I was actually a baker up until last year. But some families, including Judy’s, approached me to try for the new opening.”

“And I’m sure glad we did,” Judy throws in. “Today could have gone very different if I met one of the city cops instead.”

“They don’t like being out here, I guess?” Nick asks.

“They sure don’t,” Gid says. “Take it as punishment to be stationed out here. And since one of them’s the assisting chief, they sometimes take it out on us, y’know? But at least they’ll retire a few years down the line.”

“Will I know them if I see them?” Nick asks.

“You sure will. They’re the only two cats on the team.”

“That reminds me,” Judy says, “Nick, you wouldn’t happen to have brought some ID in your bag?” Freshly dressed she rejoins the others.

“Yes, I still got my wallet,” he says, patting his pocket. “Though if the ID has to be renewed by now is any-body's guess.”

“Good enough for now. We’ll have to make sure you’re known to be legally in town. As I said, mammals here know each other, and if some new fox is spotted in town and they pick you up, you don’t want to be here without any valid ID. That just screams slaver.”

“I can get that sorted for you,” Gideon offers. “I might be able to go around some red tape for you.”

“That would much appreciated,” Nick hands him his ID. “And speaking of making good first impressions on the locals, I just remembered there’s still a rabbit bound and gagged in the other room.”

Now she’s speechless. As is Gideon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeah that took about twice as long as expected. But on the upside, it's not the last chapter after all. There's still one more to go. I think. I mean, I did three drafts on this, throwing away a nearly complete version of the first one. Who's to say I won't do so again? I don't know! I'm winging it and I have no idea if I'm good at it yet. But I did have a lot of fun figuring out the best possible story here and I hope you enjoy the outcome.


	4. Chapter 4

There’s a beat when everybody just stares at him. His first instinct is to don his conman-smile and deflect the attention. It would be so easy, but he suppresses the instinct. What a difference a few minutes can make. He has something to lose now, as intangible and feint as it is right now. A verbal agreement, a mere possibility of things to develop between him and this curious and amazing rabbit – but it feels like the other shoe is yet to drop. Or maybe it already has.

So when Gideon and Judy stare at him in disbelief it is probably the first time in his life that he doesn’t feel like standing in the spotlight. They have to know he just acted in self-defense, right?

The moment drags on until Gideon takes mercy on him: “Where is he? I’ll go and get him.”

“Left side in the hall, last door of that corridor.”

After Gideon has left he has no choice but to face Judy, who, despite being one of the twitchier mammals, still hasn’t moved a muscle. Nick puts himself on eye-height with her. Somehow, now that Gideon is gone from the room it’s a bit easier. “I fucked up already, haven’t I?”

The way she shakes her head is unconvincing at best. “You still acted in self-defense. I mean, they drugged and bound you first.”

“Right.”

“Sorry, Nick, I was just – how could it not occur to me that they wouldn’t just leave you alone in here after going to these length.”

“You’re tired.”

“I’m not-” She looks up to meet his eyes in defiance and then falters. “Okay, maybe a bit.” She sighs and plops down on the couch. “What else did I miss? Did they ask you questions?”

“No, I was out for the count. When I came to, I was already alone in the closet. The door wasn’t even locked or blockaded, so after I managed to free myself, I snuck through some rooms until I found this guy in the kitchen.”

“You didn’t just leave?”

“Finding the door wasn’t as straight-forward as you might think.”

“But it’s just a…” she trails off, her face mirroring the reveal that he has never in his life seen a rabbit burrow before.

“Anyway,” he continues his story, while they still had a moment alone. “I didn’t want to leave someone behind me to raise an alarm and have them after me again. So I used the opportunity to jump and gag him. Which wasn’t hard. Antsy little fella, I didn’t even have to knock him out, he just let himself get bound. And then I threw him into an empty room.”

“That was all?”

“Yeah. A few minutes later, you arrived and you know the rest.”

They turn to the door as an unknown voice is heard outside. “Not? A-are you sure?”

Gideon and a brown rabbit return, the cop’s paw on the younger mammal’s shoulder. The rabbit is only looking a little terrified now and a lot more confused.

“Judy, Nick, this is James Finch.”

Nick pauses, realizing he has yet to make a decision on how to treat his would-be kidnappers. While he isn’t terribly fond of the treatment he’s been given so far, he realizes it could have been worse. And in an effort to build bridges, he’s willing to hold out an olive branch or two. He gives the rabbit an easy smile in the hope that there are no hard feelings. “We’ve met.”

“Gideon told me you’re not… a junkie?” James still looks ready to bolt if not for the paw on his shoulder, which Nick wishes wasn’t there. It is easier to get through to mammals if they don’t feel coerced or backed into a corner.

His question actually gives Nick pause. Should he answer honestly and maybe contradict Gideon (with whatever consequences that might have) or should he lie and hope the rabbit never found out? But Judy would hear that, too and that potential fall-out is not something he is keen on dealing with. “I am still addicted to the stuff, but I am looking to get clean now. I’m sorry if I scared you, out in the woods.”

“Oh, I wasn’t there myself, that was the others. I usually get left behind for these things. I just know what they told me, when they dragged you in.”

“As it stands, that still makes you complicit in kidnapping,” Gideon says.

James ears, after slowly coming up again, fall back down like a wet sack. “I know. You could really hurt the militia if you use this against us. But if you’re not what the others think you are, then…”

“I don’t intend to press any charges,” Nick says. The thought of using it as blackmail did occur to him for a brief moment, but he tossed the notion almost instantly. That’s how he would have done things in the city.

“Oh, thank goodness. The others will be so relieved to hear this.”

“You’ll have to break the news that they’re down one prisoner first,” Nick smirks.

“Yes,” Gideon says. “Please call them. I need to talk to Mallory about this still.”

“Oh, okay. Give me a minute.” He leaves the room.

“You’re being harsh on the guy,” Nick says. “He wasn’t even part of the kidnapping.”

“Or you are surprisingly accepting of all this,” Gideon shoots back. “If I were in your shoes, I might not let them off the hook so easily.”

Nick shrugs and steals a glance at Judy. “Eh. I don’t know yet how long my stay here will be, and making enemies on my first day doesn’t sound like the best of plans.”

“Suppose that’s true,” Gideon says, scratching his neck absentmindedly with one paw. “Now listen, you two. I still need to talk to Mal about this, even if you don’t intend to press charges. But you two don’t need to be present anymore. I can drop you off at the Hopps’ burrow.”

Judy nods.

“Actually-” Nick begins but is cut off by a shout from the other room. James storms back in a second later.

“Hold on, I’m putting you on speaker phone, sis.”

“I don’t have time for speaker phone! Tell Gideon to come here if he wants to talk, but if you think that’s the most idiotic thing Mark and Angie did today then you are in for a big surprise!”

“Mallory, what’s going on?” Gideon asks, loud enough for the phone to pick it up.

“You can find me at the old factory out west. Otherwise it’ll have to wait.” And she hangs up.

“Jim?” Gideon asks after a moment.

“I- I’m not sure either. I’ve never heard her like that. And the old factory…”

“What about it?”

The buck just shakes his head. “I think I should go there. Are you coming, too?”

“Bet I am,” Gideon says and turns to Judy. “Should I drop you off on the way?”

Nick makes a quick decision. Something about this smells like the kind of trouble he’d rather stay out of, but he’s itching to meet the leader of this ‘militia’. If only, to make a better first impression. If the rumors about him as a junkie are spread through the town by the members of this militia, it would be a steep uphill climb to convince the local community of the opposite. “I’ll come, too, if that’s alright.”

Judy whips around to face him. “What?”

“You should go home, Judy, see your parents. I’ll be by soon enough to help you terrorize them.”

“Don’t be daft,” she deadpans.

Nick just shrugs and turns back to Gideon. “Both of us then, if it’s no trouble.”

“Well, car’s certainly big enough,” he says, still reeling a bit in surprise. “Let’s get going, I guess.”

They go and pile into the cruiser, foxes in the front and rabbits in the back.

“I’ve never been to this factory. How far out is this?” Judy asks.

“Fifteen minutes at least from here,” Gideon says.

“I’ll take a quick nap then.”

Nick watches her slump to the side in the mirror and she’s out like a light. He looks over his shoulder to Jim instead and asks: “You have a hunch of what’s going on, don’t you?”

“Y-yes, I mean, maybe.” His gaze hops between Nick and Gideon before he decides he should probably say more. “It’s the hideout of a new gang. Been for over a month now, I think.”

“WHAT?” Gideon shouts.

James shrinks back into the seat, trying his best to fuse into the upholstery. “The others didn’t want to tell the police so they could keep an eye on them, instead of them just relocating.”

“Stupid bunch of carrot-stew-for-brains,” Gideon grumbles.

Clearly it’s not part of the deal they have with Gideon. Nick feels like he should smooth it over so Gideon isn’t wringing this guys neck before they get there. “But it has worked out so far?”

“Y-yes, it has. We could follow them from the factory to where they go into town.”

“What were they doing?” Gideon snaps.

“Drugs. I mean, they sell drugs. Trying to get rabbits hooked. But we can usually intervene and get them help.”

“’Usually’ isn’t good enough, dammit!”

“H-hey, it wasn’t my idea, okay?”

Nick coughs. “So I guess your buddies got found out today and now they’re in trouble?”

“We didn’t have anyone at the factory today. We’re not that many yet, to keep someone there at all times. I think… please don’t take this personally, but they’re all foxes? This gang, I mean. And I guess Mark got it into his head that you must be a part of them. He was saying something like that earlier. So they might have gone there to use your capture as leverage.”

Gideon curses under his breath.

“Except that this gang don’t know who I am and now this Mark has no ace in the hole.” Such amateurs.

“Yeah, that,” Jim nods.

Nick turns forward again. This might get ugly. A stand-off between a gang and a militia wouldn’t be so different from mob violence he’s witnessed in the past. Except that one side would try to claim moral superiority, for all the good that would do them.

“Gideon, have they taught you about hostage situations?”

The other fox lets out a growl. “Only to stay the hell out of them and let somebody qualified handle it. That stuff is way above my pay-grade. You think there is one? Maybe I should call for backup already.”

“It’s just a possibility. James is going on guess-work after all.”

“You’re right, let’s wait and see. If I have to call for backup, the militia is done for. Got half a mind to do it anyway, mind you.”

They drive through what looks like the town-center of Bunny-Burrow. It’s not much of a city, with no building higher than two stories. So this is her home town. He glances at the sleeping bunny in the mirror. She’s been through so much and now she didn’t even consider seeing her family right away. He’s done nothing to deserve such an amazing mammal.

When he focuses on the world outside again the sights of the town are already past. They are already on their way out again. Five more uneventful minutes of farms and meadows pass before a single, large building slowly creeps into sight.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out this old factory wasn’t built by or for rabbits. Whoever dreamed up this red bricked monstrosity had large employees in mind.

As they come up to the outer wall, Gideon spots a group of rabbits sitting by a guard house at the wall. They scatter around the corner as soon as they hear the car, but Gideon just shakes his head and parks.

Judy is out first, wiping the sleep from her eyes, and shaking herself once, but otherwise looking no worse for wear. Nick falls into step behind her.

Gideon reaches the wall first. The rabbits must have recognized him for they quickly return, grouping up after a large, brown rabbit with similar markings as Jim.

“Mallory,” Gideon nods to her.

She nods back and lets her gaze roam over the others. Her eyes go wide for a brief moment when she spots Judy. She must know the other doe. Still, instead of saying something she turns back to Gideon: “I can’t ask you to help us today, Gid. Even if we no doubt need it.”

“Then don’t,” he grumbles. “Just tell me what the hell is going on. I really need a reason as to why I should let your little gang continue.”

A few of the other rabbits behind Mallory bristled visibly at that, going so far as to thump the ground and show their teeth.

If Mallory notices, she choses to ignore it. “I’m afraid I can’t help much with that either. Mark and Angie went in to negotiate with this fox gang, thinking they could blackmail them. Apparently they thought this new fox you got in tow there is a part of them.”

“That’s what Jim ventured already. Shit, so they’re still in there?”

“If I say yes, you’ll have to call for backup, so I’ll say nothing, since I didn’t see them go in myself.”

“Dammit, Mal, this is no time for games. What mammals are in there?”

“Only the aforementioned foxes. We’ve identified eight so far.”

“Yer damn right I’m calling for backup. Are they armed?”

“Nothing we’ve seen.”

The cop turns and walks back to the car. Jim uses the opportunity to move over to his pals. They’re putting their heads together to catch each other up.

“You’re back,” Mallory says, turning to Judy. Now that Nick is taking a closer look, she is looking incredibly tired too, though probably for different reasons than Judy. If she’s the leader of this little gang, she’s now a hair’s width away from losing all the work she’s put into it. And maybe even some lives in the process.

“I am,” Judy says, just as court. “Thanks to him.” She adds with a head-movement in Nick’s direction.

Mallory turns her gaze up to him, eyes narrowed. The intensity of which causes Nick to take a half-step back. “As I understand it,” she says, “I owe you an apology. It’ll have to wait, though. Right now I would curse the ground under your feet for turning up when you did. Nothing personal.”

Nick takes a moment to answer. She’s not angry at him, but he still inadvertently caused this situation. It feels familiar. “Got it. No hard feelings.”

Gideon returns. “Twenty minutes. I don’t know about your involvement yet, so you can get out of here while you still can.”

“I tried to get the others to leave, but they won’t. You know I just organize things, but it’s Mark and Angie who everyone idolizes,” Mallory says. “All I could do was stop them from doing something even more foolish.”

“Have they made any demands? How long have you been here?” Gideon asks.

“Less than two hours. And no, they just grabbed them and holed up inside. We circled around, but could find no way to approach an entrance undetected.”

“First smart move today.”

While he listens, a plan is starting to form in Nick’s head. It’s dangerous, but at least it’s something he is good at. Easily better than these amateurs. Maybe even good enough to pull it off. And after the last week of constantly fucking things up, the chance to do some good is something he pounces on. “I can talk to them,” he says. “I’ve done this before.”

Like one surprised being with three bodies, the others turn to him.

“Were you police in the city, or something?” Gideon asks confused.

“Let’s go with ‘or something’. But in any case, negotiations with gangs and drug dealers have happened.” And only once has he lost someone if he was doing the talking. That was better odds for these rabbits, than he’d give them once the county police storms the place.

“Your decision, Gideon,” Mallory says. “I don’t know this one.”

Gideon’s mouth opens and closes silently. He looks down to Judy, who’s gaze Nick has been evading for the last half minute. He rounds to face her. He has no right to ask her to just trust him, so he says nothing instead.

From the thin line her mouth forms it’s clear she has a lot to say that she can’t voice in present company, but going for a walk would be just as suspicious. “Why?” she finally asks. “This isn’t your fight. Gid was right earlier, all these idiots have done for you so far is kidnap you.”

“I probably wasn’t giving them a very good first impression either, Judy,” he says, trying to blind out the others around them.

“Tell me this then: are you doing this out of some misplaced guilt, thinking you are the cause for this mess?”

He can’t help but chuckle. Does it sound a little guilty? Maybe she’s even right. A bit at least. “I figured you’d be well versed in one-sided debts.”

“Ugh, Nick! This is a horrible idea.”

“Maybe. But I’d sleep better if I at least tried it.”

She nods. This is something she can understand. Something she can’t hold her ground against. It’s kind of a low blow, but he’ll make it up to her later. “I wish I could help,” she says.

“Maybe one of our friends there still has a tranq gun. I’d rather have you watch my back than one of them, if it comes down to it. But I have to go in there alone.” She nods again, solemn and not at all happy, but agreeing to the inevitability of this course of action.

They turn to Gideon who makes a face like he just bit in a lemon. “I got a few in the car. You want another one, Nick?”

“No. But do you have a radio I can use to talk to you and only you?”

“Yeah, you can take this.” He unclips it from his belt and hands it over.

“Thanks,” Nick says. “Whatever I say through this, I need you to roger it. You don’t actually have to do it, but you need to give an affirmative. Can you do that?”

The cop is staring at him wide-eyed now. “You got a plan already?”

“I don’t.” He pockets the radio and turns towards the large entrance gate. “I just have to act like I do. Now, wish me luck.” If he let them know how much of it is going to be luck, they probably wouldn’t let him go. He’s not going in there as a negotiator, for he has no leverage against this gang. But he can try and do something else. He stops himself from looking back at Judy. Can’t think of that now.

The small parking space out front is empty. Merely a few rusted bicycles leaning against the wall next to the entrance remain. Nick makes his way towards the large doors, its glass having long since shattered and torn out by weather or vandals. Once, this must have been office space as well as factory, since money was spent on making an open, light-flooded atrium. Now decrepit and littered with broken glass he has to place each step carefully so as to not take splinters in every toe.

When he crosses the threshold he strides in confidently, not pausing to look around. There have to be watchers by now and he wants them to see him like he owns this place. And to cement that image he needs to not blunder into three dead ends before finding them.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. There are several doors leading from the foyer and at first glance he can’t tell which one has been recently used. Probably not the large one straight ahead. The smaller are still three times his size, since everything but some small reception desks is sized for the large employees that once worked here.

He takes a door on his left, since it is slightly ajar and least likely to be blocked. So far he has seen no indication of barricades, only rusted metal, worn down murals and shattered glass that speak of decades of neglect. Not unlike some of Zootopia’s old docks, he muses, but quickly chides himself for it. This isn’t the right time.

Why is it that he has such trouble focusing today? Is it the rabbit? Could he do something good for Judy after all the grief he’s caused her and- no! Not the time!

The door opens without so much as a sound and a dim corridor is leading to what was once an office space. The carpet is torn and fouled, logged with water damage, and yet someone has cleared a path from the worst of rubble. Without pausing, he makes his way in, trying to listen for any sounds not made from the low howling of the wind.

He is just past the first office door when-

“Not another step.”

“Finally!” He twirls around, smiling, before the voice might tell him not to. “I was beginning to think you already tucked your tails between your legs and bailed.”

The gray fox in front of him paused for a moment, enough time for Nick to take him in. The lose and heavy coat he’s wearing despite the warm spring air hints at a defensive usage. This guy is muscle. Nick needs to find the brains. “Who the hell are you?” the fox asks.

“Piberius Wilde,” Nick says, doing his best to look down on the other despite being the same height. “Just in from the city. Heard some guys here had problems that needed solving.”

“And you think you can help?” The incredulity in his voice is thick as he looks Nick up and down.

Since he is still in his pawaiian shirt and shorts, both stained from a week of wandering through the wilderness, he sure isn’t looking his most impressive right now. At the same time however, he clearly isn’t from around here either. And why else would a fox willingly come out into the countryside, if not for some less-than-legal business ventures. “You bet. I’ll only make this offer once, though.”

His attitude got the effect he wanted. “Yeah, yeah, fine, you can talk to the boss about that. I’ll take you there. Wait, you saw the prey outside? They still hanging around?”

“They are, but they’re as indecisive as prey usually are. I don’t think they’ll work up the guts to come closer any time soon.”

The other tod grunts and leads him to the third floor which is not a dingy corridor, but a metal gangway overseeing the factory hall. As soon as they step out onto the metal floor, five different fox heads turn towards them, three red and two gray ones. No sign of the two rabbits or the last two foxes.

One of the reds jumps up and comes towards them, anger in his eyes. Nick quickly tries to take in the others. There’s a chance this one isn’t the real head of the gang either. Having decoy leaders is a favorite past-time of skulks, no matter which side of the law they’re on. He sees no sign of it, though, the others all look equally tense and alert.

“The fuck is going on now? Erik, did I say I was expecting some fucking visitors?”

Nick shifts himself to the right side, diverting the other one’s attention away from the muscle if he wants to keep him in his sight and not turn his back towards him. “Not for a fault of him, I can just be very convincing.”

“I doubt you scrawny ass managed to beat him up, which means he still FUCKED UP!” the possible leader shouted over his shoulder at Erik before fixing his gaze back at Nick.

“I can see you’re not strapped for muscle,” Nick begins to explain, “but I doubt that will be of much use to you. The cops might be a joke, when compared to the city, but I doubt you’ll be able to fend them off for long.”

“Erik, go back to your fucking post.” He moves closer to Nick, close enough that he can smell his bad breath, reeking of fish and vinegar. “You have ten seconds to explain yourself.”

Nick backs off a step, seemingly cowing to the other’s authority. “Piberius Wilde, I often solve the more delicate problems that entrepreneurs such as you might have. Since I’ve just come to the Burrows and you folks don’t know my name yet, the first one is half off.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck what your name is, pal.” Definitely not the real leader, this one. Nick has to draw out the real one. “What do you know about the cops?” Loudmouth presses.

“Only that they will arrive shortly. If this is your merchandise,” he gestures around the small crates littering the platform, “I recommend you start to move it now.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are? You come in here, all high and mighty and think you need to show us how to evade some back-country hicks calling themselves cops? Like we’re some clueless morons who have no idea what they’re doing and you’re the big bozo from the city come to show us the light?”

Nick decides to take a chance and press his buttons some more. “If you got such a good handle on the situation, why is there a cop outside right now? You have been here for how long now? Yeah, I think you still have no clue how things are run here.”

Loudmouth is mere moments away from blowing a fuse and Nick is tensing up his leg muscles in case he takes a swing at him – but one of the others holds him back by the shoulder.

“If you think you know better, you better have proof. Then we can talk.”

Nick shrugs and grabs the radio from his belt without looking away. He switches it on again and says: “Hey, do me a favor and disperse the crowd outside, will you?”

After a moment, Gideon’s voice answers. “Oh, err, roger that.”

Nick quickly switches it off again before he can say more.

The gray fox looks impressed despite himself. “Well, I’ll be damned. I know the voice of that fat fucker. Didn’t think he could be bought.”

“Everyone has a price,” Nick assures with an ironic smirk. A tired old saying that has fallen out of style in most circles. Except among foxes, where it has come to mean a price not paid in money.

The gray one acknowledges it with a sly smile. “So then, what is yours?”

“That depends,” Nick shoots back and makes up a business plan on the spot. “Are you planning to move out of the area soon? I’d rather take a long-term partnership, than a one-time payment.”

“You want a cut, eh,” the other smirks. “Yeah, I think we can arrange that.”

“But first I need to be sure your enterprise survives the day,” Nick shoots back. After all, he can make all the fake deals he wants, but he needs to get the hostages from them, and soon.

Before he can plant the idea in their heads however, one of them jerks up an ear and listens. Nick follows the cue and strains his hearing as well. Sirens.

No way this has been twenty minutes!

The others swap quick glances. Nick resists taking a step back. If he makes himself look guilty now they’ll tear him apart before he can even reach the door. Instead he reaches for the radio again with a silent snarl and barks in: “What is this? Hold them off, will you.” He switches it off before Gideon can answer. While he has to keep up the pretense, he hopes that Gideon is smart enough to not actually hold them off.

He turns to the de-facto leader again: “Someone in this ‘militia’ must have more guts than I gave them credit for. You better move. Leave the hostages to me, I’ll make sure they won’t cause you trouble.”

“No. We already have a plan for them. You can go now, and we’ll find you in a few days.”

And just like that, Nick is outmaneuvered. He can’t go against him without blowing his cover, and if he just walks away, then all of this has been for nothing and they’ll make off with the rabbits. Nick’s not keen to find out what they have planned for them. So he nods and takes a step back, hoping to stall for time. “If you’re sure about this. I hope they don’t organize a fox hunt on you over these rabbits.”

The leader shakes his head and directs one of the others to get the hostages. The rest are packing up small belongings but they don’t touch the larger packages Nick has surmised to be the drugs they intend to sell.

“I don’t know where you’ve been lately, but these rabbits, they’re the worst of prey you can imagine. No spine, no brain. You just gotta show them who’s in charge. And they’ll think twice when they get their two heroes there back, thoroughly addicted to our stuff. These two will-”

A loud thunk. Every head whipped around to where the one fox has gone and opened a door. He’s lying in front of it now, sprawled out, a large dart stuck in his chest. Judy’s head pops into view through the door and vanishes again after taking in the surprised foxes.

Of course she couldn’t just wait close-by, could she? Why was he expecting anything else?

The leader of the gang isn’t surprised for long. “Go and check on Erik,” he instructs two of the gang, before he motions Loudmouth to go ahead to the hostage room.

Nick hopes he is forgotten and can hang back but one of the two heading down motions to the door. “What are you waiting for?”

Nick holds open the door for him. “For you to clear the way, of course. Or do I look like muscle to you?” He isn’t even lying; Nick is anything but muscle.

The other throws him an almost pitying look and pushes past him. Which suits him just fine. The platform is empty safe for Loudmouth and the head of the gang edging towards the again closed door. Since you wouldn’t keep hostages in a room with more than one door, Nick expects that Judy came in through a window. But why hasn’t she just freed the rabbits and fled the same way? Why make this commotion?

Nick decides he can’t just leave her escape to fate and runs after the leader. He’s not good in a fight, he’s only ever run away from danger, not towards it, but if he’s fast enough, he should- be able to pounce him! His target tries to twist around but it’s too late and Nick slams into him from above, laying him out on the floor.

Loudmouth is faster though and grabs him, even trying to bite him! Nick surprises himself when he manages to get a leg up far enough to push his opponent away. Then the door opens and Judy drags him inside.

“Hold the door!” she shouts while pulling him upright.

“Why are you still here?” he asks and throws his shoulder against it, just in time to feel someone do the same from the other side.

She gestures towards the window. “The others weren’t out yet when we heard the sirens. I knew somebody would come for them.”

Nick looks around. The fox who guarded the rabbits is lying slumped against the wall, another dart in his arm. The office windows are still in place and only open a small gap, just wide enough for a small mammal to push through. Nick would have problems with it in the best of times and while someone is after him- there’s no time.

“I got this,” he tells her. “You go first.”

She nods, drops the empty dart gun, and hops up to the window, rolling over the edge and onto a ledge outside before motioning to him.

Another assault at the door shakes him. He’ll have some nice bruises in his shoulder tomorrow. But he needs a short break and maybe he can sneak away from the door.

The door rattles again and almost throws him off. He can hear Loudmouth cursing outside. But there is more. Several pairs of feet in the stairwell. If the two others are back he’s done for. But the pressure on the door isn’t letting up. He needs something to barricade it, even if it’s just for ten seconds, but the room is bare safe for a desk so heavy that three foxes couldn’t move it.

Then the outside is quiet. What is happening? He should just go, maybe this is his best chance! But what if they come in as soon as he moves towards the window? He listens again. It’s quiet. They must have fled before the police arrive!

“Nick, what’s taking you so long?” Judy whispers through the window but he shushes her and carefully opens the door a bit.

They’re gone.

Nick lets out a long breath. They’ve finally fled. Maybe he needn’t even chance the window now, Gideon must be here any second. At least he hopes it’s Gideon and not some other cop mistaking him for one of the gang. He’s already been tranq'd once today. He pops his head out to look -and is immediately slammed against the door frame from behind.

“I knew it!” Loudmouth snarls into his ear. “Just had to rub your disgusting smell into our noses!” He sneers while pulling Nick back and slamming him forward again with every other word until he crumbles to the floor.

He tries to crawl away but Loudmouth is on him instantly, laying into him with claws. “One of those fuckin’ perverts, aren’t ya?” The next blow snapped Nick’s head to the side. “Have to fuck your meat, too!” One in the gut. Nick’s feeble attempts to curl into a ball are stopped with ease. “And can’t even buy one in the city like any other depraved fucker, can ya?” More blows slam into his muzzle. He tries to bring up an arm to shield himself, but Loudmouth just bites into his wrist and shakes it like a savage. Something breaks. Nick cries out, in pain like he hasn’t thought possible. He hardly even registers when the shaking stops.

Tethering on the edge of consciousness, faces appear and disappear. One time it’s Judy, another time Gideon. Then, at last, the pain mercifully sends him into oblivion.

  



	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we finally are. The final, official, definitive ending to Kangaroo Debt. Get comfortable, it’s a long one.

Nick abruptly stops after exiting the hospital.

Judy is still waving to the receptionist and walks into him. “Oof, hey!”

“Ah, to finally feel the fresh air again!”

“You were in there for two weeks, not two months, Slick.” And that isn’t even excluding the first few days which he spent in a coma. She doesn’t like to think about those days of waiting and hoping.

“It just feels like a life-time, Carrots. Now, what was this about a surprise?” His tail wagging enthusiastically is too much.

“Patience, Slick. The truck’s over th-”

The entrance behind them opens again, revealing a familiar figure. “Judy! Nick! Heya! I see they released you already.”

“’Already’ he says.” Nick folds his arms, turning to face Gideon. “Couldn’t you tell how stir-crazy I’ve been two days ago? If they hadn’t released me by now, I’d have jumped out a window.”

“Hah, good to hear you’re feeling well then.”

“Gideon,” Judy muses, “since you’re in uniform again, does that mean they’ve cleared you?”

“Oh, right!” He chuckles. “Yep, that’s right. I dunno what took so long, but they finally concluded that there’s no evidence about me passing on any info to the militia that shouldn’t have been released to the public and everything.”

“That’s great!”

“A heavy hit to all fans of your pastries,” Nick somberly adds.

Gid laughs and waves him off. “I’ll bring you some more muffins next weekend. That’s the least I can do.”

“I am never going to say no to that.”

Judy just rolls her eyes, seeing how Nick shamelessly milks what happened. But she cannot deny he’s earned some muffins at the very least, even if he is pushing down Gideon’s week-long wait list.

“Oh, and before I forget: you guys want to know about those five foxes we caught?”

“Just if I have to look over my shoulder any time soon,” Nick says and Judy finds herself nodding. Actually she wants to know a lot more about these bastards and that they’re going away for a long time, but that can wait.

“They don’t let me on the case fer obvious reasons, but I had a look at the files this morning. And it looks like we won’t have to worry about them. There’s no way they’ll wiggle out with a deal or something.”

“That’s good to know,” he says.

“Anyway, great to see you’re on your feet again, Nick, but I gotta be going,” Gideon waves. “Can’t be disappointing the chief on my first day back.”

They say their good-byes.

The truck her family lent her still stands alone in its parking lot row. Not surprising, considering it’s a Monday morning. Hanging back a bit, she takes the time to take him in properly, now that they’re outside again.

Nick’s wearing one of the black shirts Gideon bought him last week, since the only one he brought got shredded in the fight at the abandoned factory. Since there is only one store for fox clothing in town, they didn’t have Pawaiian prints, a point Judy finds herself mourning more than she expected. But he wears this with the same casual confidence he’s radiated when they first met.

As Nick relaxes into the passenger seat, a little sigh escapes him. For someone who’s been allegedly going stir-crazy, he still is out of breath quickly. But that’s what two weeks of hospital do to you.

She’s not going to tease him about it. “Ready?”

“Yes. To where-ever! Any place but this!” He stops fiddling with the seat belt to dramatically point forward.

She watches while he keeps fighting with his belt, biting back the urge to ask if he wants help. He doesn’t want it and she knows this, so she tries not to hover.

They’ve talked about this. In fact, they’ve filled most of her visiting hours last week with talking about it. For some reason, it’s been more and more Nick coaching her, than her consoling him over the loss of his left paw.

She’s still a tiny little bit suspicious of how well he’s dealing with it. She hates herself for even thinking he might lie to her, but how can he just shrug it off and she can’t?

He catches her eye, catches her staring at the bandaged stump and she realizes she’s just been sitting there for several moments when she could have been starting the truck.

She looks up, trying to will the guilt from her face. But seeing his smile fade by a fraction sends a tiny needle through her heart. The urge to bolt out of the car tries to overwhelm her but she fights it back down.

Instead she grips the wheel and looks away; mouths out a “sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he says.

She glances over, expecting the it’s-not-your-fault, but instead he says:

“You brush things off that you caused if only you think they’re right, and then get wound up on something else you had absolutely no control over. And guess what category this is.”

“But-”

He stops with a raised paw. “I knew what could happen when I walked into that factory. That was my decision, not yours.”

“I could have stopped you.”

“Could you? No offense, Judy, but I already knew how to push your buttons and we were in front of others where we couldn’t speak freely. So no, I don’t think you really could have.”

She lets out a frustrated growl. “Don’t take this all on yourself.”

“Only if you won’t do the same,” he shoots back, insufferably smug.

A little, frustrated growl escapes her. “I just… don’t want this to pull you down. I know I’d be a mess if this had happened to me. It did to my sister Laura, some years back. Caught her paw in a harvester and she never fully recovered, y’know?”

He nods. “That is sad. But I’m not a rabbit.”

“What, and foxes aren’t as attached to their limbs?” She’s rolling her eyes against her will.

“Maybe we’re just dexterous enough we don’t need two paws,” he smirks. “Also, you’ve heard about these new prosthesis they have now? They’re not even made of metal anymore. Maybe I’ll get myself a new paw that’ll be even better than the old one!”

“Riiight.” She stares out the window for a long moment. “I’ll have to think about it.” But she feels a little better about it at least. To show him, she reaches across the middle and softly pats the still bandaged stump.

They exchange one more look before she finally shifts the truck into gear and drives out of the hospital parking lot. It’s going to take time to sort everything out. But she doesn’t have to ruin their first day alone with it.

As they drive off the parking lot, they are noticed by some rabbits and a sheep milling around near the exit, They excitedly point at them as soon as they notice the truck and its inhabitants. She tries to give them a smile at least, but looks away quickly.

Nick notices them as well. “Promise me, Carrots, that as long as our little celebrity status holds, you let me be the reclusive kind. I don’t want to be the type who can’t even go to grocery shopping without being stalked by paparazzi.”

Despite her mixed mood, the idea has her laughing. As if Bunny-Burrow had any paparazzi. “And here I thought you were enjoying all those visitors in the hospital.”

“Your family is great and all, but you know me better than that.”

A little smile steals itself on her face. He isn’t keen on crowds, which is why she had done her best to separate them into smaller groups for visiting. It wouldn’t be fair to bury him under the full horde while he couldn’t escape.

“You can be as reclusive as you want, Slick. I won’t drag you out, if you don’t want to.” She still hopes there’ll be plenty of time for him to get to know everyone. They haven’t talked about that yet. Haven’t talked about what’s next at all.

“While you walk around giving interviews? Is that what you’ve been doing these last weeks?”

“Yeah, right,” she smirks back. “My arms are all tired from shaking paws every day. It’s been an endless stream of nothing but photo shoots and interviews and meeting important dignitaries.”

“You… almost sound like you’d that to happen.”

“Nah,” she grumbles. “It’s just been… weird, is all. I’ve had time to touch base with friends and family while you were still… out.”

“I sure hope you didn’t waste all of your time sitting at my bed,” he winks. As if he didn’t know that’s exactly where she spent all the visiting hours. Someone from her family probably told him.

She sighs, doubling down on the topic. She’s put this from her mind last week, but now that it’s come up, it’s hard to not talk about it. “It’s been a bit surreal, y’know? Most people who know me, they’ve grieved and- and then moved on. And suddenly here I am, back from the dead. That’s what I was for them! I was dead and now I’m alive again.

“Sometimes it was a bit awkward, actually.”

“You can’t help it, if others _make_ it awkward. I’m sure they were still happy to see you, Fluff.”

“Yeah.” It still feels like she’s at fault, though. She got herself captured in the first place, didn’t she?

They lapsed into silence for a few moments.

“I won’t try to pretend that I can relate,” he says. “But I think it’s not really your fault when they got awkward. It’s on them.”

She looks over and quickly back to the road. “What do you mean?”

“They lost someone, and then they gave up hope of seeing them again. Because even though they never saw their bodies, that’s what happens, right? Mammals don’t come back, is what you told me. So they give up, grief and move on.

But then you come back. And suddenly they’re going to wonder, a few of them at least, if maybe they gave up that hope too soon. If maybe they should have held out longer, tried something else, whether in your case o r in another kidnapping.”

H er throat is  feeling  tight.  “ Oh.”

“But that doesn’t mean it’s about you,” he continues. “Just because you were the trigger, doesn’t mean you’re at fault.”

S he wants to say something but she has a hard enough time concentrating on the road. But he’s right, isn’t he?

“And look at it like this: maybe in the future somebody isn’t going to give up hope. Because you came back. Maybe that will lead to more mammals coming back some day. But right now, they still need time to come to terms with the fact that it’s at least possible.”

His words stir up too many emotions to name. Judy has to stop the truck before she crashes it; parks it on the side of the road. She wants to tell him how much it means that he can just take all that confusion and hurt and transform it into something positive and uplifting in just a few words – and anyway where is the cynic she’s gotten to know barely a month ago – but no words come out. She does the next best thing that will definitely work: leans over and kisses him, not even looking if someone is watching.

He’s surprised for a moment but then leans into it.  And once the lid is off, m ore than a week worth of bottled-up emotions  threaten to overwhelm her .  She has to fight the urge to rip his clothes off right here and now . It’s a titanic effort, but she manages to pry herself away.  When she does, h e looks just as forlorn as she feels.

She holds up a forefinger to indicate that it won’t take long and shifts the truck back into gear. Drives into a nearby parking lot that is empty right now and at least a bit protected by trees. Then she allows herself to jump over the middle and press herself against him. He greets her with a low rumble in his chest. It sends a surge of excitement through her that she has sorely missed.

He still has that nasty anti-bacterial smell clinging to him from the hospital but nestled into his neck she finds the unmistakable Nick-scent lurking underneath. His pants are already tenting under her and realizes the last week in the hospital can’t have been easy on him either.

“Nick, I need to feel you.”

“H-here?” He’s shivering and it’s not from any kind of cold.

“Unless you insist on waiting.” He doesn’t know they have an empty Burrow to go to next but she doesn’t feel like telling him right now.

“Afraid my willpower isn’t built for that,” he breathes into her mouth before kissing her.

In the small space they have (the front row of a rabbit truck isn’t made for foxes with rabbits in their lap) it’s a challenge to even get his shirt open. But her determination rises in sync with the heat in her lap. She has to sit up on the dashboard to open his pants though.

“Hello there,” she can’t help but grin when his dick jumps out as soon as the zipper is down. “Somebody is eager to see me.”

Nick groans. “We really need to work on your dirty talk.”

“Is this going to be sex or a lesson in smooth-talking, Slick? You can’t have both.”

“You’re lucky I’m as horny as you are, Fluff.” He growls softly and pops open the button on her own pants.

“Can you lie back on the dashboard?” he asks.

“No time.” She gives him a few short strokes and drinks in the yips he can’t hold back. “No need,” she adds and hangs onto his neck. “Just pull my pants down far enough.”

It’s cramped and they’re starting to hotbox the truck’s interior with both of their scents now. It’s making her a little bit light-headed. Or maybe it’s his paw, rubbing her down. She swats it away and uses her own to line herself up with him. Then she sits down, hard.

Nick takes a sharp breath as she impales herself and tightens the arm around her while she takes a moment to stop seeing stars. With her legs tied together by her pants, it’s a good bit tighter than she remembers. They just hold onto each other for several deep breaths.

“Missed that too, haven’t you?” she tries to quip.

“Like so many things about you.” His voice is tense, but full of warmth.

“Aww.” The unusual candidness is something she files away for later. Right now there are more pressing needs to be addressed. She starts to roll her hips back and forth, sending waves of pleasure through both of them, if the little noises he makes are any indication. “You good so far? Nothing hurts?”

“I don’t think I’d even notice right now,” he pants. “But I’ll let you know if something acts up.”

“Good,” she says and wiggles down a bit more. “I have a lot more planned with you and it driving you back to the hospital would put a real damper on these plans.”

He whimpers adoringly and presses her against him. “You’re going to get me killed at this rate, Fluff.”

“Oh, you thought dating a bunny was all fluff and jokes, didn’t you?”

He bites her shoulder in response.

With the leverage of her legs that are still pressed between them, she can slide up and down easy enough, setting a rhythm that is not as fast as she’d like, but as fast she thinks he can take right now. Still, the intense jolts of pleasure that she is sending through herself are enough to make her legs weak.

When she stops to adjust her position, Nick makes a noise that is trying not to sound disappointed – and failing miserably. “Shall I?” he asks, raking through the fur on her back with his claws.

“Tempting, but no. I want to set the pace for you right now.” If he’s only half as pent up as she is right now, he might injure himself. “Besides, even your foxy limberness has its limits in such a small space.”

“I’ll find a way,” he rasps.

She can’t properly straddle him with her pants on, so she turns around without getting off him and kneels on his thighs. The friction this causes has both of them panting and groaning in pleasure.

Since she can’t see his face anymore she has to ask: “Still good?”

“Keep going, Judy. Or you’ll have to send me back with a stroke or something.”

She sets the pace again, slowly bouncing her rump up and down in his lap. He adds some weight with his arms, letting her know how eager he is for every thrust.

Concentrating on him so hard causes her first orgasm to sneak up on her. One moment her muscles stop obeying her properly and she can only arc her back into it and try to muffle her own cry, not wanting to be heard by any passers-by on the street. Nick’s cock still twitches inside her, eager for her to continue. But he reaches forward and encloses one of her paws with his own, letting her know she can take her time.

But she is eager not to leave him hanging and starts to quicken the pace. He’s rolling his hips to rise up a bit and meet her. His breath on her neck is coming hot and quick.

“I got you.” She rolls her own hips to meet him, take him just a little bit deeper. His knot is bumping against her with each thrust. She wants it, badly, but can’t work out the logistics inside the car. Annoyed, she realizes she might have to settle for later. But it’s okay as long as she doesn’t keep him hanging either. “I got you,” she repeats, her voice sounding unusually high, and grabs down with both paws to put them around his flaring knot, squeezing them slowly together, just a bit more with each bounce.

The effect is near instant. His breath is growing erratic. “Ohjudyjudyjudy,” he presses out before even more heat fills her as he comes. With a happy noise about a job well done she lies back against his chest. He holds onto her, breathing into her neck and whispering meaningless words into her fur, all the while continuing to pump into her. It’s getting her close again, so close, so she takes her own paw to her clit. His own follows hers, as if by instinct. His coarse pads can push her buttons better than she ever could, dragging her into they abyss with him. Her muscles clench one last time and then she fully relaxes into him, delighted by the heat spreading through her limbs and finally being able to feel him again, pure and raw.

For minutes, they sit without words, just looking out the front window and occasionally nuzzling. Not knotted but still comfortably tied together. Judy likes listening to his breath and heart rate evening out again, fitting just so under his chin like this is where she belongs. And maybe she does.

Way too soon, though, paranoia about being seen wakes up inside her again. They are still pretty easy to spot if any rabbits happens to wander over the parking lot. They wouldn’t see them not wearing pants at first glance, but it’d still be a compromising position.

The problem could be fixed easily enough, just a short drive to the burrow and they’d have it all to themselves. That, however, would require a very long and complicated series of steps, including things like separating, cleaning up, and getting dressed, all of which are so far beyond her current ability like hacking off one of her own paws.

She groans. Bad choice of metaphor.

Why does she even have to think about it now? Haven’t they just proven that nothing has changed between them? They fit together as they always have and she hardly noticed that he could only use one paw on her. He’ll get a nice prosthesis and won’t even need to be fiddling with seat-belts anymore. What is even her problem? 

The mood thus shattered for her, she turns around and presses an apology-kiss on Nick before saying: “There are wipes behind the seats.”

He hums. “I’m guessing this isn’t the first, uh, incident happening in this truck.”

“It is owned by rabbits,” she deadpans, deliberately playing off of the known lapine stereotypes. She has never been to keen on them one way or the other but right now she probably shouldn’t try to deny them, after not being able to control herself the five minutes it would have taken them to get to their destination.

She dumps the used wipes into a trash can along the street, hoping nobody recognizes her and then they’re on their way again.

  
###  
  


There has been little time to trim the hedges or work the garden at all. Twigs are slapping against the truck as it wedges itself through the alley leading up the the burrow’s entrance. It’s a small burrow, there is just enough parking space for two cars out front.

“Here we are,” she says, unnecessarily, and kills the engine.

He leans forward to get a better look at the overgrown hill front. It’s obvious even from here that it’s barely in a better condition than the one the militia used as their headquarters, but all he says is “huh” and gets out the car. She scrambles to follow, trying to keep her face even. She’ll reveal the surprise when he asks.

The front door is left open – likely out of habit. In a normal burrow, there is always someone around, always a coming and going, and locking doors would only be a hindrance.

Her siblings, who helped to renovate the place, should have cleared out for today, leaving Judy to show him around herself. That has been her idea and thankfully they didn’t think it weird.

The door swings open without a sound, its hinges freshly oiled. The corridor behind is sloping slightly down, into the hill. They’ve aired it out as much as possible over the last week, but the smell of stagnant air is still present.

Nick can clearly tell. He takes a deep breath and then looks at her. Again, she expects to be questioned about who lives here but instead he just smiles and motions for her to lead the way.

Did somebody tell him already, spoiling the surprise? She shakes off the thought and heads inside.

The corridor opens into a gathering hall. It’s a small burrow (for no more than fifty rabbits) and this is the largest room. In a rare design decision, somebody has given it roof windows, allowing for natural light to flood in. A few renovation supplies litter around the corners of the room, but most of it has been cleaned up at the last minute.

She leans against one of the wooden benches while Nick takes in the room. “Hungry?” she asks. “I’ve stocked the fridge, even found some eggs for you.”

“Real food again? You’re going to spoil me, but yes, please!” he says and sits down.

He’s beat and to her own surprise she finds she doesn’t mind to take care of him, at least for now. “Stay here then, I’ll be right back.”

There are some sandwiches in the fridge, which she hasn’t put there. She finds two plates for them and picks one with cheese and eggs for Nick, and a cream-and-cress for herself. As she wanders back she wonders when curiosity will get the better of him.

His sandwich vanishes in two bites and Nick lets out an actual moan of pleasure while licking his chops.

“Did you… actually taste that?”

“More than ever before.”

She pauses between bites and wipes some cress off her mouth. “What do you mean?”

He sprawls out on the bench, facing her from the opposite end, their feet barely touching. “I’ve been free from Night Howler since I woke up in the hospital, right? But back then I couldn’t tell. Everything you get is bland food or gross medicine. Not to start about the smell, ugh.”

She nods. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that he is free from the drug. It has been a major factor in why he had to be put into a coma in the first place, along with blood loss and malnutrition, but by the time he woke up, his body had purged all of it. He hasn’t reported any cravings since then either, which was a major weight off of her mind as well.

“But now that I’m out, everything is so much brighter and tastier.” He winks. “And I think it’s the lack of Night Howler in my system. Which is funny because I kind of feared it would have the opposite effect. I’m pretty sure I can remember as much from… the other times.”

“So, no downsides? That’s great!” And it likely played a part in his good mood as well.

“It is! I could barely hold myself back in the car.”

“I noticed,” she grins. “And I’ll have to be careful not to overuse you today.”

He laughs. “You always have, but you don’t exactly hear me complaining, do you?”

He’s right, though. Now that he is out of the hospital, back in the sun and able to stand on his own feet again and off of most meds they had him on, the changes are noticeable. His stance is more upright, his attitude noticeably less guarded, and his eyes seem to shine a bit brighter. A month ago Judy has never even noticed anyone’s eyes in particular. She’s really hoping the changes are here to stay.

“’nother sandwich?” she asks after finishing off her own. “I can make more.”

“That’s fine for now. I better pace myself, or else this ‘real food’ is going to be the next drug I’ll get hooked on.”

“Right,” she retorts with an eye-roll. At least he can joke about it. “Kitchen’s that way, you can’t miss it. Help yourself whenever.”

Then it hits her – is he thinking that this is her burrow? She has told him she was living with her family up to her capture, hasn’t she? It would make sense that the burrow looks like it’s not in use, but it’s been empty for years, not a few months. Surely he can tell difference.

“You like the place?” she hears herself asking.

“Yeah, it’s really nice. But – don’t take this the wrong way – after being inside for so long, I’d rather feel some wind on my face today.

She grins. “Would you believe this place has a garden?”

“You’ll have to show me before I can accept such a ludicrous statement at face value.”

  
###  
  


They slowly tour the garden for a bit. Judy hasn’t even seen everything herself yet. There are no big fields attached to this burrow. Her father might have mentioned that the family who once lived here occasionally helped on the Hopps’ farm. There is, of course, still a broken green house, an overgrown pond, some berry bushes, and a small orchard. No normal rabbit would want to live without the some greenery to tend to, after all, she thinks with a bit of bitterness.

Nick then pulls, basically out of thin air, a hammock Judy that hasn’t known existed.

“It’s a sixth sense, Carrots.”

“Finding hammocks must have been a vital survival-trait in the city.”

“Absolutely. How else would you steer clear of the sewer alligators.”

They find a place where the afternoon sun filters through the trees – which even she can recognize to be in desperate need of some pruning. She is going to to put that on top of the list of things to fix here next week. If this whole surprise goes over well with him.

Trying to put up the hammock, Nick has to discover that tying a knot with one paw and one still tender stump is not something he can learn on-the-fly. He fights with the rope for a minute, but ultimately has to concede defeat.

“Carrots, I am bested,” he snarks, but the vile look he casts at the rope speaks its own language.

“Lift me up,” she says, because the right place for the rope is too high for her to reach alone on this end.

He acquiesces by kneeling behind her and shoveling her into his arms before standing up again. She gives him a content noise and a quick peck to let him know she’s never getting tired of the contact. Then she redoes the knot properly. “See? We just have to work together.”

“You’re a real Sunday Special,” he murmurs.

“Well, I’m your Sunday Special, mister,” she shoots back and hops down; gestures for him to get into the hammock already.

They will need to talk about his paw again. But later. For now she is quite content to laze in this hammock with him.

He scrambles into it while she keeps it steady, then hops up herself. The bunny-sized hammock is a tight fit for both of them, so she sprawls out on his chest, laying her ears down on either side of his head.

Slowly, the tension is leaving him, and she feels herself calming in turn. She starts to doze.

  


“When I think about it, it’s kind of sad the militia disbanded,” Nick says, right out of the blue.

While waiting for her brain to wake up, she repeats the words several times in her head until they (kind of) make sense. She’s too comfortable to shift and look at him, though. His body is relaxed, and his paw is tracing circles on her back and that’s all that’s really important right now.

“We’re both thinking about the bozos who kidnapped you, assuming you were part of a drug peddling fox gang?” she asks.

“The very same.”

She thinks about letting it die, but then her curiosity becomes marginally larger than the interest in dozing off again. “Why?”

“It is a good concept, isn’t it? Building an early warning network, distributing the security of the town among its residents instead of leaving it with the police.”

“It’s also not a new idea, Nick. They’re not the first ones to have it, and they won’t be the last.”

He hums, a sound that she feels more than she hears.

It makes her remember something she’s not thought about in a long time. “Y’know, a few years ago I thought about doing the same thing.”

“Really, now.” His paw stops tracing for a moment.

“Hm-hm. Some of us Hopps, some Leaps, and now some of the Flinchs, we all live pretty close to each other. We could cover the northwest, if we organized properly.”

“Seems unlike you to let such an opportunity pass. What happened?”

“I hardly remember.” It’s a half-truth at best. “I think I just couldn’t get enough support for it. Times were different back then.” She was also not in the mood to try hard enough at the time, but that is not something she wants to dredge up with words right now.

“Better times?” he prompts.

“Most of us still wanted to leave it to the police. Prey slavery had been made fully illegal shortly before, and I guess they hoped things would just change on their own.”

“But they haven’t.”

“Not enough.” Maybe she should try again some time, see if more mammals supported the idea now.

“Maybe now the time is right.”

“Maybe,” she carefully echoed. It’s hard to not feel like being able to take on the world today.

“Just don’t call it a militia.” He squeezes her lightly. “That’s bad marketing right now.”

“I’ll leave the public relations side to you then.”

His chuckle shakes both of them in the small hammock.

“This might be a weird question,” he says after a minute or so, “but so far nobody knows about us, right?”

“Nnn-well.”

“Well?!” His heart-rate ratchets up.

“Just Gideon,” she quickly adds. “And he won’t tell.”

“Oh.” He calms down again. “Yeah, okay, he’s alright. No one who can make such amazing blackberry muffins could be a bad mammal.”

“The worlds needs more baking fox-cops,” she agrees. “But why do you ask?”

“I’ve actually been meaning to since last week, but there has never been enough privacy in the hospital.”

She hums in accord. Bunny-Burrow Central doesn’t have many rooms for larger mammals, and Nick has been rooming together with a wolf.

“And when I woke up, you were already there so I was wondering how you explained that to anyone asking.”

“Nobody asked, not after I explained how you saved me and I lead you here,” she says after a moment. “My family might have some notions, but for now they haven’t pressed me. They might draw their own conclusions, though, if I keep spending most of my time with you.”

His arms around her tighten again. “That sounds… risky.”

She huffs. “Don’t think that’ll stop me.”

He lapses into silence again, but she can tell he’s thinking by how tense he’s become. The idea of keeping everything a secret doesn’t sit right with her either. Up to now she hasn’t thought about it, delaying it until she’s had a chance to talk to Gid again. But maybe that alone shows she likely won’t like what she’ll hear.

As much as she’d love to walk paw-in-paw down the street with him, she first has to be sure she can protect him from possible backlash. She doesn’t care about her own status in town and never has, but if the town casts Nick out again, then where could he go? No, for once she can’t rush into this.

She shifts and rubs her chin over the side of his chest, leaving just a tiny scent-mark nobody will know is there but her. It still makes her happy on a level she’s rarely felt. It’ll do for now.

  
###  
  


The ice cream parlor that Judy picks is a bit set back from the main street. There is no place where they wouldn’t draw any attention, but here it might at least not be a crowd of fifty.

Her friend Jane can barely contain her squeal when they walk up to the counter. “Judeeee-” is the last thing she hears before getting tackled to the ground. Nick is looking down at her with an thinly veiled amusement and not at all intending to help her out.

“Hey, Jane, long time no see!”

“Of course you haven’t! I’ve heard all about you!” she says, helping Judy up again. “You two, I should say! I know who you are!” She twists around to Nick.

“Sadly I can’t say the same.”

“Nick, this is Jane. We’re childhood friends. Her burrow is just on the other side of the river from the Hopps compound.”

“Well, my parents burrow, no longer mine,” she says, grinning even wider.

“You mean…?” Judy begins to ask.

“Yesss! Started my own burrow with Carlos this spring!”

“Wow, congratulations,” Judy offers her another hug, assailed by a multitude of emotions. Starting another burrow, a new clan, isn’t something that happens every year in town. She certainly didn’t see it coming from Jane. And now she feels a bit of jealousy for her friend’s fortune of not having to keep secrets.

“But enough about my boring old regular life. You’re the power-couple who’s the talk of the town!”

Judy’s heart skips a beat.

“What did you tell your friends while I was out cold, Fluff?” Nick quips, not missing a beat. He pulls her closer and gives her a light noogie, like one might give a smaller sibling.

“Errr… nothing?” The reply sounds lame even to herself, but what can she say?

Jane inadvertently saves her: “Well, not couple-couple, of course, that’d be weird, right? But the story is all over town about you two saving Angie and what’s-his-face? Mark! And did you really save Judy from slavers?” she asks Nick.

“Nah, just bought her on a market in the city,” he answers with a wink.

“No way! But hey, what can I get you two?” Jane asks, switching gears back into clerk-mode. Maybe because a gaggle of on-lookers has formed at the entrance.

Nick is at the counter first. “Oh, you have popsicles! I’ll have two blackberries, please.”

“Here you go. What about you, Jude? It’s on me today.”

“Thank you.” She is starting to wonder why she hasn’t visited Jane sooner. “Two scoops of citrus for me.”

“There you go. Anything else for you two?”

Judy looks around, glancing at Nick. He’s doing his best to look comfortable, but she can tell that he’s tense underneath that facade. They’re starting to draw a crowd in here, despite everything. “Do you still have the roof terrace?”

A few minutes later they’re sitting at the table set up on the flat roof. It’s normally reserved for employees, but Jane was nice enough to give them access. And maybe drop in when she’s on break.

Judy points at her ears, and then at the edge of the roof, indicating that they don’t have full privacy up here, not while there are rabbits around. Nick smiles and nods.

“What is it with you and popsicles anyway?” Judy asks out loud. “Do you not take well to dairy products?”

“It’s just a bit of nostalgia for me,” he says, gazing up into the sky. “One of the few better memories from the city, if you so will.”

“Do you… miss the place?”

He laughs. “No way. I just hope Finn is okay. I know he probably hasn’t made the best first impression on you-”

“That’s putting it lightly.”

“…but he’s alright once he warms up to someone. Y’know, gruff exterior-”

“Heart of gold?”

“Okay, that might be going a bit too far. Anyway, the popsicles are a remnant of a year where we didn’t need to worry about money. All because we started selling some in front of a nightclub.”

“You didn’t lace them with drugs, did you?”

“Oh no, it was all in the form, you see? I’m sure you would have loved them as well.”

She doesn’t really see why, but Nick just winks and leaves it at that.

She’s glad he isn’t homesick for the city. If he ever expressed the wish to go back, she wouldn’t know what to do. It weighs on her more than she’d like and hears herself asking: “I’m glad you… seem to like it here?”

“I’m not sure yet-” _Oh._ “-if it’s the company I find myself in or the town itself, but so far I sure don’t regret this little… what did ya call it? Vacation? Yeah, I hope it’ll be a long one,” he teases.

She laughs, loud and relieved, almost forgetting that they can’t speak openly. And maybe the ace she still has up her sleeve will help in making this vacation permanent.

  
###  
  


A rain shower forces them to leave the roof early. Back in the burrow Nick makes an unceremonious beeline for the salon’s large couch.

Judy hesitates to follow. There is still the surprise she’s supposed to reveal to him today. Why hasn’t he asked about it again? Has he just figured it out? And more importantly: why doesn’t she just tell him now? There’s some resistance in her and she can’t tell where it’s stemming from.

Nick starts to peel off the wet shirt he’s wearing, working with just one paw. She has to snicker at his contortions. He glares, but his voice is warm when he turns to her. “Laugh it up, will you?”

He throws it over a chair and flops down on the couch himself, arms wide on the backrest, head rolled back; a silent invitation for her to join him.

He seems so untroubled and open now. She hopes this stems from the new vigor he’s found in his drug-free state. What she wouldn’t do for him to make this last!

Maybe that’s what she’s afraid of; breaking the spell and dimming his mood again. There’s no real reason for it, but then again, this is the fox who’s adamantly refused any repayment for freeing her from a cage. How will he react when something like this is dropped into his lap?

She hops over to the couch and accepts the invitation to snuggle. On his left, just to proof to herself that she isn’t shunning the side with the bandaged stump either. He makes a content noise that sounds almost like a purr and drapes his arm around her.

Welp, what better time is she hoping for anyway? She has to come out and tell him eventually. She’s already told everyone involved in the project she’d rather reveal it herself, once things have settled down a bit. By tomorrow they’d come around and ask how it went.

“Nick?”

After a long moment he hums questioningly.

“There’s something you should know about this burrow…”

No answers. She takes it as a sign to continue.

At that moment she realizes she’s never made any plans on how to reveal this big surprise. At all. “I- it’s- uh… yours. If you want it.”

Several deep breaths pass in silence. Has he just chosen this time to fall asleep? She twists to look at him. He is certainly the picture of relaxed, head slightly leaning to one side and breathing evenly.

But when asleep, his jaw sacks down a bit, and there’s some tension around his eyes that he only ever lets go when asleep. He’s not asleep at all, he’s just playing her!

“Nick…”

“I’m thinking.”

Her hopes sink; it feels like he’s walling her out. “Talk to me?”

After a long moment he sighs. “I was… starting to guess there was something going on. Something which might amount to that absolutely insane statement which you’ve just told me. I’ve gone through the options that one of us is either asleep, drugged or otherwise impaired. The next likely possibility is that you’re pulling my leg, because seriously, nobody just gives away free real estate. But if you really wanted to prank me, I’m sure you could come up with something more believable. So, discarding all other options… what’s the catch here, Carrots?” He finally opens his eyes again and she feels pinned against the couch by his piercing, inquisitive gaze.

She, too, takes a moment to answer. Maybe he’s even right and there’s a catch she doesn’t know about. “If there is one, I can’t see it,” she decides. “I gave the clan council the idea that you needed a place to stay. They approached me and wanted to know how to thank you properly for what you’ve done. Rescue Angie and Mark. And me, I guess. And next thing I know they have this notion of just giving you one of the burrows. You can let a lawyer look over it, of course, but as far as I know, there are no strings attached. If you ever chose to move away again the burrow goes back to the council, so you can’t sell it.”

“So I don’t own it, but I have right of residency? For life?”

She nods. “Just like everyone else.”

“Okay, that’s slightly more believable… nah, what am I saying. This still sounds way too good to be true! I think I really need to hire a lawyer. If I had the money, that is.”

“I’ll loan it to you.”

“Carrots-”

She stands up on the couch to come to eye-height with him. “No, look. You need something to get on your feet, one way or another. I’ve more than enough money saved up and you can pay me back if you want, but really, don’t sweat it.”

“…of course.” It sounds resigned and tired and she can hardly blame him. This hasn’t been the most careful of reveals. He chuckles weakly. “Guess that means I’ll have to look for honest work next.”

“Not today, please?” She sits down again, leaning against him.

“No, we’ll definitely leave that for tomorrow. Oh, make it next week. I’ll need a few more days to acclimate to this strange utopia you’ve hidden out here.”

She lets out a snort. “You’ll learn about the ugly sides soon enough.”

He hums, non-committed. “I’m… less worried about that now.”

They lapse into silence for a bit, while she let’s him acclimate to this situation.

“Stars above, this really is a lot at once,” he says after some time and stretches.

“You’ll find something in no time,” she tries to assure him.

“It’s not that,” he says. “It’s like I’m in everyone’s debt now.”

There should be a way to reassure him that he isn’t, but she can’t find it. This hits too close to a sore point for herself. “I get that,” she says. “But this really is meant as a gift.”

He sighs again. “On one level I know that they have a lot of these burrows just lying around and they probably want more residents to revitalize the town, even if it isn’t rabbits. I understand that. But still…” He shakes his head. “Oh, what the hell, you’ve talked me into crazier things already. How bad could this be?”

“Really not bad at all?” she tries.

“What about you, anyway?” he asks. “Will you go back to doing odd-jobs, as you called it?”

“I don’t know,” she admits, hesitantly. There’s some teasing in his voice but she’s not in the mood to banter over this. “It’s the one thing I don’t look forward to so much.”

“Why not? You didn’t say much about your job history during our wilderness track.”

She pushes her fingers through his chest fur, distracting herself while pondering how to explain this. “When I said I did a hundred different jobs it wasn’t much of an exaggeration, y’know? Don’t think I’ve ever held one for more than two months. And I tried pretty much anything you can do around here. Starting from every possible role on a farm, to car mechanic and bouncer at a bar.”

She expects him to laugh at that last one but he just hums and waits for her to continue.

“After a while they all felt like a chore. Not what I was looking for. Whatever that is. But I’ve got enough saved up to coast for a while. Enjoy life a bit. Maybe I’ll give that civil defense force another shot, before I get back to finding something that is more likely to actually pay the bills,” she ends with a shrug.

“You got a name up and everything,” he teases.

“I thought that was your job, doing the PR side and everything?”

“You can’t afford my services, Carrots.”

“I’m sure we’ll find a way to arrange payment.”

  
###  
  


The burrow is drenched in blue moonlight when Nick awakes. Judy’s warm presence is nestled into his armpit, deep asleep. He keeps his eyes shut but eventually has to give up. Sleep won’t take him again. If anything, it seems to escape him more and more with each passing moment.

Driven to do something he manages to extract himself without waking her, then ends up exploring the run-down burrow. His burrow? Den? He shakes off the thought.

Falling asleep in the afternoon was a mistake. Now, in the dead of night, he is alone with his thoughts. What is he doing? Following a rabbit he’s known for a mere month out into the sticks?

There is a greenhouse at the end of a hallway. It’s overgrown with weeds, a few of its tiled windows broken. The night air is wafting in, a curious mixture for a city dweller that is begging to be identified. It’s a welcome diversion, but it’s not enough to take up his attention.

Does he have so little self-respect that he’s basically ready to pledge his life to her, just because she’s the first creature who’s shown him any positive attention in years?

This time he hasn’t got the flowers to drown himself in.

He’s going to ruin her life. There’s no place for him here, and even less for them. Once somebody finds out, the backlash won’t only hit him, it’ll hit her most of all. She is the one tied closely to this town. What is he thinking? He can’t do that to her.

Maybe he can find something else instead of Night Howler. Finn has always sworn on alcohol, but the fridge isn’t stocked yet. He’s checked already.

He was right to think that good surprises don’t just happen to him. There’s always a catch. How can he expect to fit in here, when he couldn’t even do that in the city? For now he’s a momentary curiosity, but soon they’ll see beyond that and cast him out again.

Her family has taken pity on him while he is injured but sooner or later they’d find out about what he’s doing with their daughter. Contrary to stereotypes, rabbits aren’t exactly slow on the uptake, especially in that area. It’ll be the fiery pitchforks all over again.

He should just leave. Now. Before she gets too attached to him. It’ll hurt, but it’ll get worse the longer he waits.

Yes, that makes sense.

With a start he registers the set of paws sneaking up behind him. No, not sneaking, she just isn’t trying to be heard. He can tell she’s sleepy by her slow breaths and how her paws are dragging over the stones.

“Hey,” she mumbles.

“Hey. Can’t sleep either?”

“My fox went missing.” She leans against his hip and looks up into the night sky with him. Not asking any questions; as if they’d done this a hundred times already.

He still feels like he owes her at least an explanation. “Just thinking,” he mumbles. Her presence is warm and reassuring, welcome like a spring sun to a freezing fox. “It’s a beautiful night.”

She hums in accord. “In the city, in that cage, all I could see were the street lights, even when I had a clear view of the sky. Is it always like that?”

“The light pollution? Yeah. It’s the same everywhere.”

She shudders softly. “How could you live like that, never seeing the stars?”

“I… guess I didn’t know what I was missing out on.” He’s been feeling it though. The loneliness, the isolation; all that he’s become so good at suppressing over the years. It’s become nothing but background noise, kept in the back of his mind. Only now that it’s lessening does he realize how draining it has been. Only now can he see all the things he’s denied himself.

It’s just one of the many reasons why he is so consumed with her.

He wants to reach down and put a paw on her shoulder, but she’s standing on his wrong side. The stump of his wrist is throbbing slowly and nothing happens when he tries to ball it into a fist in frustration. He ends up draping his tail around her shoulders instead. She shivers under his touch and leans a bit more against him.

For some reason she always seems to thrive from the contact with him, just as he feels better if she’s around. And if that isn’t something special, then he doesn’t know what is.

It’s something he can hold on to, something they can always enjoy together and none of his doubts can take that away from him. He picks her up, bridal-style, nuzzling against her neck. She’s still sleepy, but responds with a little purring sound.

He carries her back to the couch.

“Now, where were we again?” he whispers, laying her down gently.

She snakes her arms around his neck and pulls him into a long kiss. It’s a spark falling into a barrel of gasoline for him. From how she isn’t letting go, he can tell she’s feeling a bit clingy. There’s a want in her lips and her paws, a possessiveness he finds more enticing than anything. To be at the receiving end of it is something he will never tire off. He braces himself with his left elbow and hurries to peal her out of the clothes she fell asleep in.

“The best part,” she says when they break apart for air, and also to get his pants off. His brain is so mushy he’s struggling to remember the question.

When she moves to stand, he pushes her back down. There’s nothing more he loves than seeing her take charge, but tonight he wants to give something back. “Let me take care of you, Fluff.”

After a moment, she hums in agreement and settles down again, her eyes twinkling with an unspoken challenge. Sometimes, everything is a competition with this bunny. But that’s not something he wants to cure her of. Not when everything comes so effortlessly to her, not when it’s so damn inspiring just to be near her. But maybe he can also get her to let go once in a while.

His pants need to go first, before he stands in front of the couch. Sized for rabbits, it’s a good height to line himself up. As a promise, he drapes himself over her, bends down to nuzzle her chest. She lets out a little moan as he licks and teases her. His one paw can only cover so much ground on her now, but he puts it to work kneading her left side, using his claws for little pinpricks to wake her up, while he uses his tongue to show attention to the rest of her, starting with her chest.

Her paws are playing with his ears, something he usually appreciates. Now however, she is supposed to let go. He gathers them both up in his own paw, nips at them playfully and then presses them against the backrest behind her, effectively pinning her.

She snickers and can’t resist making a game out of it, pushing herself off the couch by her feet and paws alone, arcing towards him and pushing her crotch right under his nose. Not a subtle bone in her.

He playfully bites at her, pricking her thigh with his canines. The thought of pushing her back down and taking it slowly evaporates as he takes one good breath of her crotch. Suddenly he finds his muzzle glued to it, breathing in and out again, making her squirm under his breath. The strong, earthy smell is driving him up the wall and from the way she rolls her hips at him, she is more than awake now.

“C’mon,” she urges. It’s way too much fun to have _her_ squirming under _him_ for once.

Lining himself up with only his stump, while his other paw keeps her arms pinned, takes a few attempts, but at least they feel good for both of them. Impatient as she is, she spreads her knees as wide as she can and tries to help, but ends up adding a few attempts until they’re both laughing.

“You can’t see very well in this light, can you?” he teases.

“Nope, who knew?!”

He leans forward to kiss while slowly pushing into her. Then pauses every time before pulling out again, concentrating more on their tongues than his rhythm. He’d like to think he’s the one in control this time, but really, his self-control is tentative at best. The way she moans into his mouth is maddeningly sexy to him. It takes all the willpower he has left to not just dive into her and start thrusting without abandon.

But this is supposed to be about her. Not for the first time he (silently) curses not having a second paw, but even the bandaged stump can apply the right kind of pressure on her lower torso. Her breath is coming quick now and she is clenching around him more and more.

“Niiiick,” she breaths quietly when he pulls back to straighten up. “Don’t tease me, I’m so close, I-”

“I got you,” he promises. If he rolls his forearm just right over her lower belly while pushing in- her cry is anything but quiet, resounding in the empty burrow.

Now he releases her arms and, to give himself a breather, stays still for a moment, letting her ride it out. He really needs it, too. Even with their earlier sessions today he feels like he’s on a hair-trigger.

There’s a thing or two he’s learned about her sensitive spots, though. And her feet are high on that list. It’s never easy to get his muzzle down to them without pulling out, but he can reach them just so – and carefully drags his teeth over her soft soles.

“Oh Nick, yes, that’s the spot,” she says, spreading her toes and rolling her hips. He takes it as a sign to get going again. “Faster,” she urges, eyes closed.

It’s great to see that she’s starting to let go more and more and he wants to oblige her, but he can’t, not yet, not without sending himself over the edge. “Hold on,” he says and pulls out entirely, eliciting a confused sigh. Taking a quick step back, he kneels in front of the couch, rubbing his thumb over her clit while he delves into her with his tongue.

She arches against him before suddenly pulling her legs up as if rolling into a ball. He feels her stiffening and then coming again, drenching his muzzle in the process. He slows down, but keeps lapping inside her, drawing it out as long as possible. The taste and more importantly the tone in which she keeps mumbling his name has him feeling half-way feral with want now.

He wills himself to steady his breathing and stands up again. With his thumb, he keeps slowly rubbing her lower belly and clit, while he tries to collect himself. As much as he’d like to, he won’t be able to keep this up for long. His knot is already flaring to the point of being painful.

“Nick?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s not polite to keep a lady hanging like this,” she manages to tease, even while panting herself.

This bunny. He can’t help but laugh quietly, then moves to bend over her again. She still has her knees up to her chest, pinning his paw between. Pushing into her makes for an extremely tight sensation that has them both moaning in different octaves.

It’s great but Nick has to realize he can’t go all in like this.

Knotting has never been free of at least a little discomfort for her and he can always tell. The one time he hesitated, though, she’s told him in no uncertain terms that he’d better. Maybe she’s aware of how crucial it is for vulpines. He wouldn’t put it past her to have done her own research. But he’s not content to make this anything less than perfect for both of them.

While there is a limit to how much he can slowly stretch her, especially while she’s on her back, there is another way. “Hold on,” he tells her before lifting her up to sits himself down in her place. By pressing her back against his chest, her legs are now dangling down between his, well relaxed.

She eagerly lines herself up with him before he has the chance and makes a sound of absolute bliss as gravity does its work and he slowly fills her again. Her feet are barely touching the ground by the time she’s down to his knot and then all it takes is a little more tugging and it slips inside. The tight fit is enough to have him right back at the edge, his hips rolling on instinct to try and push a little bit deeper, while his upper body tries to curl around her. This time there is no need to hold back. He pins her in place with both arms around her middle, while his lower body does the work with short, hurried thrusts, his knot never leaving her.

“Oh my stars,” she squeaks. Her paws are digging into him possessively and the stream of “yes-yes-yes” is getting louder and more determined with each breath.

Just when he thinks he can’t keep it up any longer he bites into her shoulder. She cries out wordlessly, raking her blunt little claws over his sides and he’s done for, giving her one last big push that lifts her whole body towards him. She stiffens one last time as he comes inside her before melting in his arms. A long, satisfied growl escapes him as he continues to come into her, again and again.

Time seems to dilate while they stay like this, her head turned up into his neck fur, their breaths mingling. If he’d been a hair more sleepy he might be content to drift off to sleep from here, but to be honest, the waking world is looking a lot better than any dream he’s had so far.

It’s her who breaks the spell after some time.

“Oh. My. Gourd. Nick.” She’s still flopped against his chest bonelessly, her head rolled to one side against his shoulder.

“Some day, huh?” he can’t help but tease.

“I guess we can switch it up like this more often.”

“Glad you like it.”

“I just… hope you’re good, too?”

“I’m great. Can’t imagine anything to be better right now, Fluff.”

“That’s good. And besides,” she says, “there’s no reason for tomorrow to be worse, you know?”

“Complete with super-secret-yet-barely-hidden-car-sex? If we keep that up, I’m sure we’ll have another kind of celebrity status by Friday.”

“Not that, you dolt. But I’m sure we’ll find something equally entertaining.”

He hums again and closes his eyes. Could this be any more perfect? He’s never had such a strong, physical sensation of everything being right. Of the world making sense for once.

Judy lifts his left arm up, pushes a kiss on the stump.

“What’s that for?” he asks, not really wanting to think about the stump now. Not after just managing to push the prickling sensation down in his mind.

“Not so different,” she whispers, so low that he’s not sure it’s directed at him. A bit louder she adds: “I know I’ve been a bit weird about it.”

He waves her worry away with his other paw. “Ah, think nothing of it. It’s a weird situation.”

She nods. “And I should have listened to you when you said that you’re okay.”

A low sigh escapes him. Now he has to tell her. “You… actually were right, you know?” If they were sitting opposite of each other, he might look away at this point. But, funny thing about being knotted to someone, it has a comparable effect to direct eye contact. So he can’t help but notice the slight tension in her body. And now he can’t look away. “I’ve been down-playing it. A bit. Well, maybe a bit too much.”

She reaches up and rakes her fingers through his neck fur while speaking. “I know. You sure threw me a bit for a loop there. Didn’t know what to make of it, couldn’t believe you were so unconcerned about losing a paw.”

“That’s what I told myself. I wanted to believe it.”

“And I would never blame you, Nick. But until you finally slipped and I saw beyond that show, I couldn’t even tell how to comfort you.”

“Always wanting to help.” He tilts his head to give her paw better access. Right now it’s okay to feel a bit needy, he tells himself.

“You’ll probably tell me to stop sounding so cliche, but you don’t have to get through this alone, y’know?”

“It was dragging you down, too, Carrots, don’t tell me it didn’t.”

“Yes, because I didn’t know how to deal with it. And yes, it still does, a little bit, but we usually call that part empathy,” she deadpans.

He huffs. Maybe his sarcasm is starting to rub off on her but he doesn’t mind much.

“And anyway,” she continues, “it’s all part of the whole foxy package.”

“There’s my Sunday Special again,” he says. Because he can’t find the words to say how much he appreciates it. Hopefully one day he will.

They lapse into silence then, contend with just snuggling. He so enjoys just feeling her heart-beat and breath. There’s no need to think about tomorrow or anything else. Just what they have, here and now, is enough.

At one point his knot gets thin enough that a small shift from her separates them with a plop. She lets out a slightly annoyed sound. In response he pulls her a little tighter, letting her know that he has no plans for going anywhere.

“We better not ruin the couch on the first night,” she grumbles and he silently concedes the point, following her to the bathroom.

They help each other clean up. When he starts to wander back to the couch, Judy drags him in another direction and reveals that there is a bedroom after all. She was just too caught up to think of it earlier. Right.

They settle in there. It’s not a double bed but it’s spacious for a fox, so a bunny can fit alongside him easily enough. And while he’s not feeling overly sleepy yet, it’s a lot more inviting than wandering the Burrow again. Den, whatever.

While he waits for her to join him here, he finally acknowledges what still creeps around the edge of his mind. That not even an hour ago, he’s thought about leaving. His stomach clenches together at the thought of how much it would’ve hurt her. Will he give in one day? He must not – but what if, in a moment of doubts, he does?

When she settles down against his side, wrapping his tail around her, his focus sharpens on her, making it easier to push all doubts away. But this time he doesn’t. They’ll come back when she isn’t around. No, he needs to find a better way to deal with this. How does she do it?

He could just ask of course, but despite her insistence that it’s all part of a package, he’d never burden her with this. There’s a line and this is several leagues over it. No, he has to approach this in a different way, some way she’ll never suspect what’s really behind this.

He could just keep his ears open and maybe learn the answer in time. But there’s something different now. This seems too important to leave to chance in such a way. He needs to figure this out, now, even if it’s risky.

“You’re so tense,” she says. “What’s wrong?”

Shit. Out of time. “I’m… wondering if I forgot something.”

“Huh?”

“All of this- it seems almost a bit too good to be true. Do you get what I mean?”

“Flatterer.”

“I’m serious.”

She sighs. “I can tell. But I don’t know what to say.”

“How do you do it, Judy? How do you not worry about waking up and find that everything has been just a dream? It’s… actually happened to me before.”

“From Night Howler?”

He nods.

After a few silent moments she surprises him by laughing quietly. “I don’t know what that’s like. But I have been wondering if I’m out of touch with reality on at least one occasion.”

“Want to tell me?” he carefully asks. Her voice is cheery, but maybe a bit too much so. It’s hard to read her right now without knowing what she is remembering.

“I’ve always been a bit of the odd one out, as far as Bunny-Burrow rabbits are concerned. A few years back it was… especially noticeable for me. I’ve just gone through six jobs in as many months, couldn’t motivate myself for any of them. All the while my parents badger me about settling down, finding a good buck, yadda yadda yadda…

“So I think, whatever, let’s give that a shot again. Could hardly be worse than the last times I tried, right? And it started off well. For once I thought I really had something there. About half a year later I was sure enough that I went to propose – only to find him in bed with another buck.”

“Oh, geez, Judy.”

“Yeah. After that I did wonder if I was just out of touch with reality.” The cheeriness in her voice has slowly evaporated, leaving behind an undertone of pure steel.

Nick reaches down to knead her shoulders with his paw until the tension is seeping out again. “You didn’t deserve to go through this.”

She tilts her head up and gives him a lopsided grin before he can find something better to say. “Thanks, but anyway, if we put it like this, then: yes, I kind of have been waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“So if you’re waiting to tell me that in reality you’re actually not into me at all, and you’re just hiding out here in the sticks because you’re on the run from three different governments, now’s the time.”

Something clicked inside him and he has to laugh. Her words put all of this into a perspective he couldn’t even think of before. Suddenly he’s not alone in this limbo of is-this-for-real-or-not. “Three different governments couldn’t keep me apart from you.” And he’s never been as sure of anything.

She chuckles. “You’re such a giant sap sometimes.”

“Like you’d have it any other way.”

“I really don’t.”

And if there is another shoe to drop later, they’ll deal with it. Together. And that’s all he needs to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, this has been a long time in the making, hasn’t it? When I started writing this fic during my winter vacation time, I intended for the story to be finished in January. Funny how that turned out. RL has been a rollercoaster this last half year and then there’s of course the fact that this originally was expected to end in chapter 3.  
> Writing this fic has been an experiment on a lot of different levels for me. For the first time I had no idea where the story was going and what themes I’d be exploring. Normally I plot the ending first and then work towards that. I think I’ll have to do a little more planning ahead next time. It’s been great but I fear the overall consistency has sufferend a bit, as has character agency.  
> I’d love to read what you think about it. Good, mixed and bad reviews are equally welcome with me. And if you have an opinion on how KD compares to my earlier fics, (which were both completed before anything was released) then I’d love to hear that, too.  
> Thanks for reading, hope you had fun, and until next time.


End file.
